Konoha's young sage
by NHunter
Summary: Raised by the toads of the Mebokuzan mountain, Naruto is now back to the ninja world, Konoha. But will Konoha accept him? Naruto/Yugito, Fuu/Naruto/Yugito, Deidara/Fuu/Naruto, Deidara/Fuu. AU, OOC, M-rated.
1. Prologue

**Summary**: Just after Kyuubi no Yoko was sealed inside newborn Naruto, Gamabunta found that he had company when he returned to the Mebokuzan. So Naruto was raised by the toads, but time to return to his real home came.

**Title**: Konoha's young sage  
**Author**: NHunter aka N.H. aka 夜狩猟家 aka 灰色天使  
**Genre**: General, Adventure, some Romance later  
**Rating**: M = NC-17  
**Characters**: almost everyone from manga, may have some OCs and/or filler characters  
**Warnings**: AU, OOC  
**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own Naruto or its characters

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
_"**speaking of higher beings / jutsus**"  
_**'thinking of higher beings'**_

_**AN**_**: **this will be my second story written in non-native language, so if there will be mistakes, don't be too rough. And I hope, that this story has at least something original. but who knows... anyway, let's start ^_^

*** Jutsu list**:**  
Suiton: teppoudama** - (C-rank) Water style: bullet - user (Gamabunta) spits a large amount of water in a form of bullet/cannonball.**  
Shiki fuuin** - (S-rank) Corpse spirit sealing method - summoning Shinigami, user can rip target's soul from the body and seal it away, either in himself, or any other object. If the soul is sealed within jutsu user, both user's and target's souls are eaten by Shinigami, while if the target's soul is sealed in other object, only user's soul is eaten.**  
Hakke no fuuin shiki - **(unknown rank) Eight divination signs seal - one of the seals used by Minato to imprison the Kyuubi in Naruto.  
**Shishou fuuin** - (unknown rank) Four images seal - another seal used by Minato to imprison the Kyuubi in Naruto.**  
**

* * *

**Konoha's young sage  
Prologue.**

"**Suiton: teppoudama!**" Gamabunta, great leader of the mighty toad clan, shoot three more water cannonballs at the nine-tailed fox demon, Kyuubi no Yoko, who was on rampage, attacking ninja village. But water attack could do nothing to the currently greatest demon on the Earth... And his time on the battlefield was coming to an end too. "**How much more time do you need, Minato? I'm almost out of chakra!**" Gamabunta said, looking at the approaching nine-tailed fox.

"Ten seconds." Man, who standing on the top of Gamabunta's head, Minato Namikadze, the Forth Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, laid down bundle he was holding in his hand before. Bundle was revealed to be a newborn baby with same yellow hair Minato had, wrapped into piece of clothes. Minato ran through handseals. "**Shiki fuuin****!**" Almost immediately ghost figure of the Death God appeared behind Minato. Even if only he could see Shinigami, everyone in ten mile radius could feel temperature drop to a zero degrees, accompanied by great fear, enough to make even the Kyuubi freeze for a second. After several second of telepathic conversation between Forth Hokage and the Death God, ugly ghost hand ripped its way through Minato's stomach and shoot towards the Kyuubi, catching its soul. "Naruto, I hope you'll forgive me, my son..." Minato said to the boy lying in front of him on Gamabunta's head. The same moment Shinigami's hand brought Kyuubi's soul to the little boy's body "**Hakke no fuuin shiki****! ****Shishou fuuin****!**" Soul of the greatest demon was now sealed inside newborn baby. "I hope you'll be seeing as a hero there... Goodbye..." In the distance Kyuubi's yoki-made body disappeared.

"**Goodbye Minato Namikadze. It was a honour to fight along****side**** with you...**" Gamabunta said as he lowered his head. "**Looks like ****I****'m done there.**" Then he disappeared in a giant cloud of white smoke.

* * *

"**What the hell!**" Shouted Gamabunta. He was back at the Mebokuzan mountain, where his clan lived. But he was not alone. Naruto was loudly crying somewhere on his head.

"**You didn't said that we will have a guest, Bunta-kun.**" Small aged toad in black cloak chuckled, but immediately went back to seriousness "**Who is this little boy?**"

"**His name is Naruto. Minato wished him to be Uzumaki, though ****I**** don't understand why, Fukasaku-sama.**" Replied toad leader. "**What will we do?**"

"**I take it that this boy has Kyuubi no Yoko sealed inside him.**" Gamabunta nodded. "**I don't think that it would be safe for him to be at Konoha.**"

"**But Fukasaku-sama, we cannot rise him!**" Bunta shouted.

"**And why not?**" Another small ancient toad in black cloak appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "**Fukasaku is right. It is not safe for him to be in Konoha right now. They might want revenge on ****the**** Kyuubi and attack or, worse, kill this little innocent tadpole.**"

"**For once ****I**** agree with you, woman.**" Fukasaku whispered, but his wife, Shima, heard him.

"**What did you say, old jerk?**" For next ten minutes, before Naruto started crying even more loudly, Gamabunta watched two elders of toad clan fighting...

**~ *** 4 years later *** ~**

Shima was sitting on the stone step that led to her and Fukasaku's house, knitting, while watching little Naruto playing.

"Ma! Look what I can do!" The blond shouted, making the aged toad look at him. When he had her attention, Naruto jumped high into the air and tried to do a backwards flip, he saw senior toad warrior do during their spars. Of course, young jinchuuriki lacked the skills needed to this, and ended up falling into the big puddle on his back. Shima shook her head and returned to knitting, as she watched him get up. "I can do that! You'll see!" The little blond exclaimed. "Pa, tell her that I can do that!" He asked Fukasaku who walked into the yard Naruto and Shima were in.

"**Tell Ma what?**" The toad elder asked back, making the boy let out an angry cry from this 'unfairness'. "**Anyway, Naruto-chan, I have to ask you something.**" This got Naruto's attention.

"Wha' do you want to ask me, Pa?" He asked Fukasaku.

"**Naruto-chan, Now you're old enough to start training, so I want to ask you: do you want me to train you?**" Toad elder saw interest in blond's cerulean eyes. "**I will make you strong, Naruto-chan, I promise.**" Naruto jumped up and down and nodded eagerly.

"Of course I want, Pa!" He shouted.

"**...It won't be easy though...**" 'Pa' continued.

"I want to train! I want to be strong!" The little blond yelled.

"**Very well.**" Fukasaku said. "**We will start tomorrow... I will tell you some rules now: When we will be training, or when we are around other humans ...bar Jiraya-chan, you should call me Fukasaku-sensei. You're a good boy, Naruto-chan, and good boys should be respectful with their teachers.**" Naruto nodded, though, not as eagerly as he did before.

"OK, Fuka... sa... ku-sens'i." The boy said.

"**That will do, Naruto-chan. And the second rule: you shall do as I, or your other teachers, shall you have any, instruct you.**" The little jinchuuriki nodded again. Then Fukasaku looked at his wife. "**When we will have lunch?**" Shima stopped knitting and looked up at her husband.

"**You again lost the count of time, you old toad! Your lunch is on the table, where it was for the last two hours!**" She replied in an annoyed tone. Fukasaku nodded and jumped towards his food into the house...

**~ *** 7 more years later *** ~**

"**Good morning, Naruto-****chan****.**" Fukasaku greeted his apprentice. Naruto was now eleven years old. Harsh trainings with toads he'd undergone since he was four made him well build for his age. The boy wore dark khaki ninja-style pants, same colour jacket. He had bandages on his wrists and several seals for weapons on hands.

"Good morning, Fukasaku-sensei. What will be today's lesson?"

"**I thought that time for you to come to your real home came.**" Naruto had puzzled expression on his face: he thought that Mebokuzan was his home for his entire life, even if he knew that his parents were Leaf shinobi. "**So the following week Gamabunta will teach you everything about Konohagakure no Sato.**"

"Hai, Fukasaku-sensei. I'll find him right now."

"**Good...**" Naruto made step towards toad clan leader's place, but Fukasaku spoke again. "**Naruto. Ones Bunta finishes, come here. I'll accompany you to your birthplace.**"

**~ *** Eight more days later *** ~**

"**Are you ready, ****Naruto-chan?**" Fukasaku asked, checking boy's storage seals with his belongings.

"As usual, Fukasaku-sensei." Replied blond boy. "Let's go!" As usual, Naruto was full of energy...

"**Then get ready, we are leaving now.**" Fukasaku made a few handseals and Naruto instantly felt like something of incredible power pulled him out of his place. Next second this weird feeling left him and he found himself in a cloud of white smoke. Not knowing, exactly where he was, he slipped into his taijutsu battle stance...

* * *

About pairings... I don't know yet who will be with Naruto, so... you may choose... poll is added to my profile. (anyway, romance part won't be started for several chapters...)  
* Tamaki - girl from Soraku (Heavenly city (?)) [manga 354]  
* Ino...  
* Temari  
* Yugito  
* Tayuya  
* Other one (write name of your candidate in review (I'm against Naru/Saku, harem-fics, tired of Naru/Hina, but if you'll insist, I may write those))

And lastly, I'm university student, so I have to study hard. ^_^ Next update, most likely, will be around 20th may.


	2. Konoha & genin exams

Hi, everyone... I had bi-i-i-ig holidays and some inspiration previous week, so here we go, first chapter of "Konoha's young sage"...

**review responce:**  
** OmegaRanger, evilfrog1, Thousand Tailed Holy FlashFang, genbo, FFwatchdog, Inugo Kurosaki, Naruto Namikaze the Legend, Frost99lives, Elia950, Protoman 0, GatorLHA2**, thank you!  
**Spear-of-the-doomed**, yes, Naruto knows toad's taijutsu, some ninjutsu and... ...more. Akatsuki plot will be changed a bit, but not too much. And Naruto had human food before (i think that toads could prepare it for him. sometimes...)  
**Challenger**, sorry, but you forgot 'bout Shiho (girl which helped with Jiraya's message decoding) =P

**Jutsu list and related things**:  
**Shunshin **- (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu  
**kawarimi **- (E-rank) Change of body stance - substitutes user with nearby object  
**henge **- (E-rank) Transformation - allows user to transform into another person or object  
**bushin **- (E-rank) - creates illusionary copy of user  
**Doton: iwa bushin** - (B-rank) Earth style: stone clone - (credit for this jutsu goes to PalXan from ) creates stone-made solid copy of user. Stone clones are physically strong and have their own mind (although very weak so are most effectively used as a 'puppets'). Stone clones are easily affected by genjutsu. They are pretty hard to destroy physically, but have limited lifetime (the more chakra they are given when created, the longer their 'life' is). To create stone clone user must be near any sourse of material for clone (stone/brick-made walls, stone blocks, stones, sandy/rocky ground etc.)  
**kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**kuchiousu no jutsu** - (A-rank) Summoning - Time-space ninjutsu that summons object/animal (requers signed contract with that type of animals) to user's location  
**fuuma shuriken** - just a big (1 meter in diameter) shuriken

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'_  
**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power / jutsus / Iruka's 'demon head' speaking"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'_**

_**AN:  
**_* As there was no Naruto, Hinata is a bit of Sasuke's fangirl (just a bit) but she will change her mind, so we will have 'normal' Hinata in later chapters  
* There will be **good**, **female**, **a bit pervy** Kyuubi ^_^ but, also, later... with some 'mindscape' romance... ^_^

* * *

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 1: Konoha & genin exams**

It was early morning in Konohagakure no Sato, peaceful as it was for more than decade. Yet one man was currently in the fight with every ninja's worst enemy. Yes, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Third Hokage, was doing paperwork. And it looked like aged Hokage was losing in the battle with those damn papers, as piles of them seemed only to grow thicker with every second passed. Suddenly he felt chakra spike near village hall building, the same building he was in right now.

'_I thought that they would arrive later... But on a good side of things, I'll have extra brake from this damn paperwork._'

* * *

White smoke from whatever dimensional jutsu Fukasaku used cleared, and Naruto found himself in the centre of big shinobi village, standing right in front of Hokage office building.

"**Naruto-****chan****, are you going to stand there all day?**" Being brought back to reality, boy ran to catch up with his toad sensei, and the duo entered the building. It seemed that Hokage was already waiting for them, as they reached Sarutobi's office without any need to wait. After knocking on the door, Fukasaku entered with Naruto following closely behind him. "**Good morning Saturobi-dono.**"

"Good morning, Fukasaku-sama" Replied Hokage. "I take it that the boy with you is Naruto?" Both toad and boy in question nodded.

"**Yes. He is Naruto Uzumaki.**" The toad elder said to Hokage.

"Good morning to you, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen greeted. After Naruto greeted Hokage, Sarutobi for a minute or so was looking through papers on his desk, before he found what he was looking for. "These are forms for registration as Konoha citizen. Please, fill them in." Hokage pointed to the table in the corner of his office. Naruto nodded and went there to complete his current task. When boy started filling in those damn papers, Hokage asked the toad elder. "What you can tell me about Naruto, Fukasaku-sama?"

"**Please, move you ANBU ninja out for the time we're speaking. And place silencing jutsu.**" Hokage nodded and did as Fukasaku said. "**Well, as I wrote in the letter week ago, this boy is Namikadze Minato's legacy, his son, and jailer of Kyuubi no Yoko. Of course, this information for the safety of Naruto should not leave this walls.**"

"True." Sarutobi agreed. "What about his skills?"

"**He was trained by myself and several other toads since he was four. He was taught basic skills like tree climbing and water walking, our taijutsu style, some toad ninjutsu that human can do. He knows summoning ****jutsu**** and signed our contract. Also, Jiraya-kun spent two years with this boy, teaching him ****the ****art of sealing. Naruto, given his... circumstances, has great amount of chakra ****–**** he can summon Gamabunta twice already ****–**** and ****for the same reason**** his chakra control is, let's say, awful.**" Hokage nodded in understanding. "**He is barely able to do normal henge and kawarimi, so he was taught him modified versions of these jutsu. Also, about bushins. He was never able to do one. Instead he uses Iwa bushins.**"

"You tested his elemental affinities?" Sarutobi asked. Fukasaku nodded.

"**Yes. He has Wind as primary element and Earth as secondary. And if he uses THAT power, he will also have Fire and, maybe, Lava.**"

"Interesting. Has he ever used Kyuubi's power before?"

"**Kyuubi's yoki gives him great regeneration and healing abilities, but I've never felt demon's powers being used for anything else... This boy has incredible stamina and I think that this also has something to do with Kyuubi.**" Sarutobi nodded again, as he agreed with the toad elder. "**One year ago we started his sage training.**"

"Already?" Hokage asked a bit more louder that he should have had.

"Something wrong?" Naruto asked from the corner where he was filling in his forms.

"No, no, everything is alright." Sarutobi turned back to Fukasaku. "You trained him to be a sage? He is only eleven now."

"**I don't see a problem there. This boy was raised in a close contact with nature. Even so, his sage training isn't complete yet: he ****was taught how to**** use only sage taijutsu now. No senpou ninjutsu or genjutsu. Those will be taught when he is at least fourteen.**"

"OK..." Hokage sighed. "What you'll say about his current level?"

"**He is strong enough to defeat ****a**** strong jounin in a match of brute force and he often does unpredictable moves, but h****e'****s is very straightforward and lacks actual battle experience, spars are only spars after all, so I'll say that he is on average to high chuunin level now.**"

"And does he know about his heritage?"

"**Yes. And about his burden too.**" There was pause.

"I finished, Hokage-sama." Naruto came back with his forms filled.

"Good, Naruto-kun, here you go." Sarutobi gave the boy a pair of keys, some money and several more papers. "For now you'll live in an apartment complex not far from the academy. You'll be given scholarship till you graduate. It is not very big, but it should be enough. Papers are for the landlord of apartment complex and for the ninja academy..." Naruto nodded. Sarutobi paused for a second. "Almost forgot. Fukasaku-sama mentioned that you know toad taijutsu, but that style isn't very well suited for academy level spars." Hokage took a scroll from his desk. "This is a basic taijutsu style taught at the academy. I don't insist, but it would be better if you learn this one too."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Do you need any supplies for academy?" Naruto shook his head while touching scroll in his pants' pocket. "Then, I think, you can join academy today. Third lesson will start in an hour."

"Hai. May I leave?" Hokage nodded.

"**Before you go, one ****more**** thing, Naruto-kun.**" Fukasaku spoke. "**I know, that this will be hard for you, but try not show your real skills. And nothing about your father and Kyuubi.**"

"Hai, Fukasaku-sensei."

"**Good. If you'll need toads' help, summon us.**" The toad elder paused for a second. "**It'll also be better for you if nobody other than Hokage knows about your summoning contract.**" Naruto nodded. "**Then you may go, Naruto-kun.**" The boy nodded again.

"Goodbye, Fukasaku-sensei, Hokage-sama." Naruto calmly walked out of Hokage's office and closed the door. Twenty seconds later Sarutobi could hear Naruto running at the breakneck speed.

"What a boy!.."

* * *

On the top of the Stone head Third Hokage black clad shinobi with Leaf hitae-ate watched everything that happened in the Hokage's office through his spyglass.

"Well, it looks like this boy is jinchuuriki of Nine-tailed demon. Danzo-sama will like this. This boy should become his subordinate." With this the man disappeared via shunsin in a swirl of wind and leaves.

* * *

As Naruto exited Hokage's office and closed the door, he put everything the old man gave him into an empty storage scroll and then ran out of the building. The streets of Konoha were now pretty crowded, so running towards the academy was hard, but remembering his sensei's words, Naruto never jumped to the roofs.

Fifteen minutes later he arrived to the academy, having just enough time to copy timetable and to fill whatever papers he will need to fill to join. When he finished with signing the papers, brake had already started long ago, so he had about two more minutes... And still he had to find the classroom of class he was joining... The bell rang about half a minute before he finally found the classroom he needed. He knocked on the door. Several seconds later a young man in standard chuunin attire came out into the corridor. Man had distinctive horizontal scar on his face.

"Umino Iruka, how can I help you?" Asked the man.

"Good morning, Iruka-san. I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I was said that I'll be joining your class." Naruto gave the papers from the academy principal to the teacher. Iruka looked through them.

"So you are that new student Hokage-sama told me about?" Naruto nodded.

"Hai. I think..."

* * *

When Iruka returned to the classroom, his class was already chatting in a full voice, as if the lesson already finished.

"Silence!" No reaction. "Silence!" Still no reaction. "**I SAID SILENCE!**" Iruka's giant head shouted. This time class was silent in a second. "OK, class, you remember, I said that we will have new student this week."

"Hai, sensei." Class answered in unison. Iruka continued.

"As your new classmate arrived earlier, than Hokage-sama expected, he will join this class today."

"We are graduation class. Again, why will he join us, shouldn't he be with kids who just started academy?" Asked boy with red triangular marks on his cheeks and little puppy on his head. Said puppy barked as he agreed with the boy.

"Kiba, Hokage himself checked his level. The new student is more than capable to study in this class." Iruka turned to the door. "You may enter." The door opened and boy with blonde hair standing in every possible direction entered. The boy had bright blue with little tint of green eyes and three strange 'whiskers' on each cheek. He was dressed in pretty simple khaki pants and jacket. The boy had two scrolls in the pockets of his pants and another one, which looked like it had been used for ages, in his hand along with desk set.

"Good morning." The boy said politely.

"So, why don't you introduce yourself?" Asked Iruka. The boy nodded.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My parents were shinobi of Konoha, but both died during Kyuubi's attack, so I was raised and trained by my father's friends outside of the village and came back here just several hours ago. I like fruits, stewed vegetables and some dished I think you've never heard of. I don't really like meat, but I'm OK with it. I like my sensei, my friends, nature and its serenity." '_And __I__ love __you,__ my nee-tyan!_' "I want to become shinobi so that people could live in peace and, finally, I hope to make friends with you all." Silence.

"...Thank you, Naruto." The boy nodded again and went to the back row of the classroom where he sat on the free stool. Then Naruto opened scroll he had in his hands. It had many small angular signs with occasional drawings in it. Naruto unrolled to where free space started and readied himself.

'_Timetable says that it is history lesson now... It'll be interesting to see another point of view... But only if teacher is as cool as __Pa__-sensei._' But eventually Naruto found Iruka-sensei to be boring lector and decided that he could see what that academic taijutsu was - Hokage said that it would be better if he learned it... Naruto opened the scroll Hokage gave him. '_This style looks weak b__y itself.__.. __But then again, this is a basic taijutsu style that be adapted for almost anyone__._' It was everything that Naruto could say. While style was more offensive that toad's or sage's, it lacked powerful moves or combos and was pretty easy to be overpowered while in defense. '_Still, __I__ need to learn it..._' Sighed the boy. The rest of the lesson Naruto spent trying to memorize moves of the academic taijutsu style...

* * *

When bell for lunch break rang, Naruto tried to walk out of the classroom, but was stopped by dark-haired boy in blue T-shirt with Uchiha symbol and white shorts, surrounded by crowd of girls.

"Fight me." Said boy. Immediately whispers of 'Sasuke-sama is so-o-o-o cool' started.

"Why?" Naruto responded.

"How dare you speak to Sasuse-sama like that!" Screamed two biggest fangirls of Uchiha, blond and pink-haired banshees.

"I said fight me, idiot!" Roared Uchiha boy, now identified as Sasuke.

"I'm not interested." Stated Naruto and tried to walk away, but before he could make the forth step, he felt Sasuke's fist approaching his head. Naruto leaned forward and Sasuke's fist missed it's target. At the same time Naruto hit Sasuke's ankle and sidestepped. As a result, Uchiha fell on his hands, while Naruto walked away, trying to ignore enraged fangirls of Sasuke.

'_This new boy, Naruto, is interesting..._' Thought one of the few girls that wasn't completely after Sasuke...

* * *

The final lesson for that day was physical education, which started with ten laps around academy's stadium. After years of training at Mebokuzan this was easy for Naruto, who completed task with the second best time in history of academy, right after someone named Rock Lee who graduated the previous year. Other exercises were also easy for Naruto... Second half of the lesson was assigned for spars. Naruto was put against the lazy boy from Nara clan by second teacher, white-haired chuunin Mizuke, which infuriated Sasuke, who wanted revenge on Naruto for his come-down.

As this was first day Naruto had ever seen academic taijutsu style, he almost lost his spar using it. Actually, he won only because of his stamina and constant dodging...

After Naruto's spar was over, Iruka approached him.

"It looked like you was fighting for the first time. Naruto, you said that you were trained?" Asked scarred chuunin.

"You see, Iruka-sensei, I was taught two different taijutsu styles, but Hokage-sama said that they both weren't suited for academy level spars and gave me scroll with basic style taught here. I received it only this morning, so..." Naruto tried to explain situation.

"Oh, I see..."

* * *

After the school day was finished, Naruto ran towards the apartment complex, where Hokage said he will live. It was pretty old, five storey building with pale yellow walls. His flat was on the fifth floor. It was small, but looked comfy. There was bedroom, Kitchen combined with living room, toilet and bathroom. Naruto unsealed his belongings from the scroll and laid them out. When he finished this, Naruto went to the landlord and paid for the first month. Then, with the money he had left, Naruto went to buy food to the nearest shop. When this task was finished, he went to train.

* * *

Naruto found an empty training ground and went there. He removed his khaki jacket under which there was black T-shirt with orange flame like looking spiral on the back. Naruto laid his jacket on the grass and concentrated. After five seconds dark red outlining appeared around his eyes. When he opened them, instead of blue, they were amber with horizontal almost rectangular pupil. Naruto immediately felt three people watching him from different spots on this training ground.

'_Shit! They mustn't know about my sage mode yet_.' Closing his eyes again boy let natural energy off his body. Outlining around his eyes disappeared and his eyes under closed eyelids turned back to normal. '_I need to improve my sage taijutsu, but, obviously, __I__ can't do that now. Ninjutsu are also out of question: all of them __I__ know are not for academy students... Oh, __I__ still need to learn academic taijutsu style..._'

* * *

Sasuke watched Naruto learning academic taijutsu from his hiding spot. That boy could defeat him in taijutsu this morning, but during spar at the academy he looked like he didn't knew any moves and now he was learning academic taijutsu style. That was... interesting.

From another spot white-eyed girl from Hyuuga clan was watching Naruto with her byakugan active. At the beginning Naruto gathered great amount of energy from outside world, which intrigued Hinata greatly, but then he suddenly released it as if he sensed her and didn't want her to know what that could do... '_You are very interesting, Naruto..._'

Lastly, one of Danzou's subordinates was spying on Naruto's training. '_This boy could sense me or those two children from three hundred meters with those weird eyes, impressive. This boy will definitely be good warrior under __Danzou-sama's__ tutelage._' With this man shunshined away.

The second day held nothing interesting for Naruto - there were only four lectures, so the blond boy continued reading the scroll about academic taijutsu. When torturing lectures finished, Naruto went to his home, grabbed lunch, and ran to distant training ground... He returned to his apartment only after sunset, and after quick shower and dinner, he went to sleep.

The next day started ...interesting. People in the streets looked at him with suspicions, sometimes nodding or shaking their heads. Naruto sent some chakra to his ears for enchanted hearing. Well, he didn't like the results he got... 'I heard that this boy is demon.' 'That guy from the bar said that he is Kyuubi reincarnated!' 'He looks suspicious with those whisker marks... Like he is a fox disguised.' Well, Naruto decided, that he will tell Hokage-sama about it after the school is finished.

The first lesson was range practice with Iruka-sensei, who seemed to be oblivious to the rumours. Naruto had forth score with shurikens and sixth with kunais in the class. Not brilliant, but he really didn't need more... The second lesson was ninjutsu with that white-haired chuunin Mizuki. And it was review test on bushin jutsu...

"...Sasuke Uchiha." Mizuki called. Sasuke, cheered by his fangilrs, created five clones without any problems, earning more of 'Sasuke-sama is so-o-o-o-o cool!' squeaks. "OK, OK..." Chuunin waited a bit. "And, finally, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Ano, sensei, I can't use this jutsu. Can I use another type of bushin?" Naruto asked.

'_I heard that this boy is Kyuubi reincarnated. Definitely, such monster as him must die. But he can be useful for me untill that._' Mizuki thought. "No. You failed!" Whole class, well, except for sleeping Shikamaru and stoic Aburame Shino, laughed.

"Idiot!" Yelled pink-haired banshee. "Sasuke-sama is the best, you, loser!"

The next two lessons again were lectures with Iruka-sensei. But they were about first aid, something that Naruto didn't know very well, because, when Jiraya was away, he was the only human at Mebokuzan, and toads hadn't have much information about human's medicine.

* * *

After the lessons for today finished, Naruto immediately ran towards the Hokage tower. It seemed, that in past few hours citizens' attitude towards him became worse, as he was forced to dodge stones, bottles or cans, thrown at him, several times. And almost everyone was speaking about him being 'Kyuubi reborn'...

Deciding not to risk encounter with chuunins at the reception downstairs, Naruto just ran past them, then upstairs, until he was in front of the doors of Old man's office. Boy knocked on the door and waited for any response. After ten or so seconds it came.

"Come in." Naruto entered the Hokage's office and bowed slightly.

"Good afternoon, Hokage-sama."

"I take it that you have something important to tell me, Naruto-kun." After watching the boy for several seconds aged Hokage stated.

"There is rumor spread in the village about me being Kyuubi no Yoko. I was already attacked by some villagers." Naruto reported.

"Well, three of civilian councilmen already came to me this morning demand for the execution for you. Public one, no less." Blonde boy felt like he was going to die right there. "Let's say, that they got less than nothing." Hokage continued. "Don't be afraid, I can handle them and I know that those rumours were anything but truth. But many villagers are stupid enough to honestly believe in this lie." Naruto sighed.

"What shall I do then?"

"That will definitely be very hard, but you should ignore them, or they may just gain 'proof'." Naruto nodded. "But I'll have two ANBU units watching over you, just in case."

"Hai, Hokage-sama. ...And one more thing."

"What is it, Naruto?"

"One of my instructors at academy, Mizuki, acts suspiciously... Like he is planning something bad... I don't know..." Naruto tried to explain situation with Mizuki, but felt like he failed.

"He was completely loyal to Konoha before and I have doubts that he may be planning something against village... But if he continues acting strangely, you are free to report to me, Naruto-kun." The boy once again nodded.

"Hai."

/ ***** **\

Next thirty four weeks almost event-less. Well, Naruto needed to evade villagers' attacks for 'finishing Yondaime's work' on a daily basis and assigned ANBU weren't too much help there. At the academy Naruto was somewhere near the bottom. He was pretty good at target practice, but with his still awful academic style taijutsu, non-existent genjutsu-casting abilities that was of no help. And while he had his stone clones and modified henge and kawarimi, Mizuki never let him pass any test... At the theoretical part of studies things weren't much better, but mainly because Naruto never pushed himself there too hard; Iruka-sensei was cold with him for the first month, but then it changed for the better, even if the scarred chuunin was often infuriated by Naruto, who wasn't listening to him...

During these weeks Hokage had a lot of to do to protect Naruto from either civilian and even some shinobi councilmen who tried to execute boy just for the fact that he was alive, or from Danzo, who tried to 'take boy under his wing' and create a powerful war machine for himself only. It was hard, but Sarutobi every time said to those fools that Naruto will live and he will live like a normal ninja...

So, both Iruka-sensei and Hokage became something like family figures for the blond. Although on public he still used respectful suffixes with their names, in private... Yeah, they were Iruka-nii-san and Hokage-jiji... Also, there were two people from 'Ichiraku ramen' whom Naruto too considered as his family, Teuchi and his daughter Ayame were almost the only people who were always nice with him and never overcharged him... Yeah, they also were a part of his surrogate family...

/ ***** **\

Iruka made himself a cup of tea, when he heard somebody knocking on his door. Sighing, chuunin went there, leaving his cup standing on the table. When Iruka left kitchen, single shadow slipped through ventlight into his apartment, poured some medical powder into the cup and went away through same ventlight he entered before scarred chuunin returned back to kitchen.

* * *

"OK, everyone, Iruka-san is unwell today, so me and Bekkou-san will be your examiners." Mizuki said. "First part of your exam is written test. Get ready!"

Naruto was the last one, who got his test papers. And he found out that his questions were ridiculously hard: some required chuunin or even jounin level of knowledge, others were just impossible to know for ordinary shinobi or academy student. But then Naruto noticed that there was small breeze over his paper.

'_Looks like they are trying to fail me with genjutsu._' Even if he wasn't able to cast any illusions or was awful with detection without his _nee-tyan_'s help, Naruto could dispel them quiet efficiently. "**Kai!**" Naruto sent a pulse of chakra and true to his theory about genjutsu, his paper changed and questions there become normal. Not that he knew everything, or even needed to know everything asked in this test, but Naruto did pretty much decently...

* * *

"The next part of your exam will be physical training. Everybody out!" Mizuki announced. Naruto and other potential genins went outside, to the academy's stadium.

The first thing they needed to do was to run twenty laps. This was an easy task for Naruto: everyday he ran two or three laps around the whole village! After that there were tests for dodging and balancing abilities, also quiet easy for Naruto, even if both chuunins obviously tried to fail him... And then there was target practice... Of course, Sasuke was the best there - the only thing where Uchiha boy was second to 'keeping low profile' Naruto was stamina... Well, he was best there until Naruto's turn...

"OK, shurikens first." Naruto was given eight metal 'stars' for eight targets - four at thirty meters and four at fifty. Naruto threw his first shuriken at distant target. "Two points." Mizuki announced, even if it was clear that Naruto hit bull's eye.

'Now, now, Mizuki, let's see, what will you say now...' Naruto sent some wind chakra into his second shuriken and threw it beside any targets. At first. Half a second later projectile began to change it's direction. Shuriken hit the first target, made fist-sized hole in it's bull's eye, and flew further. The second target also gained hole in it, giving Naruto nine more points, before shuriken finally stopped. In the wall behind targets. Now even Mizuki could deny Naruto's points from this test... With the kunai throwing blond boy also used same strategy with wind chakra...

* * *

After the lunch there was taijutsu part of exam. All that was needed - to hold your ground against either of chuunins for one minute. There Naruto decided to go with defensive moves of toad style. While Bekkou was stronger and more experienced, Naruto's defence was a tough thing for him even with first gates opened. Mizuki had stopwatch and tried to fail Naruto by giving other chuunin more time. But after three minutes it was obvious that one minute time limit passed, and the white-haired chuunin was forced to pass Naruto there.

* * *

Next were genjutsu and ninjutsu parts of exam. It was simple: first you needed to detect and dispel genjutsu. Then you needed to demonstrate three basic ninjutsu: henge, kawarimi and clone. Those, who passed this part of exam were given their hitae-ates and declared passed.

After two or so hours, it was finally Naruto's turn.

"So, Naruto, genjutsu first. Try to find and dispel it." Mizuki said. '_Let's see, how you deal with this one, demon!_' Naruto turned around and tried to see any sign of illusion in the room. He found none with his eyes. "You have thirty second left."

'_Shit!_' Naruto closed his eyes and reached for his sage mode, not activating it. Now he could feel chakra cover placed over whole room, but mostly over the clock. '_Got it!_' The boy opened eyes. "**Kai!**" But instead of illusion disappearing from the clock, the whole room disappeared and Naruto found himself in the middle of the Hell, standing right in front of giant red-furred fox with nine tails. The fox opened its mouth and tried to swallow the blond boy in front of it. '_So that was two layer genjutsu..._' "**Kai!**" Naruto created chakra pulse strong enough not only to destroy illusion, but also to knock both chuunins off their feet.

"Ok..." Mizuki said reluctantly. "Now, show us henge... Change into me." Naruto did no handseals. He just transformed into the white-haired chuunin. But his transformation wasn't henge Mizuki knew: instead of clouds of white smoke it looked like fast moving blue ring of chakra, reshaping boy. "What was that? It wasn't henge!" The white-haired chuunin almost yelled.

"Why? This is henge, just modified version which requires more chakra to create." Naruto answered.

"Never heard of anything like this. Where did you learn that?" Bekkou asked.

"My sensei created it for me."

"And who was your sensei?" Mizuki asked. Naruto remained quiet. "OK... Kawarimi next. Change with that chair." The chuunin pointed to the chair across the room. Naruto again did no handseals, but performed jutsu flawlessly. If you don't count that it again looked not completely like normal kawarimi... "And now back." Naruto again performed jutsu without any problems. "And, finally, create as many clones as you can." Naruto began his handseals for 'stone clone jutsu' but Mizuki stopped him. "I need only simple clones. Nothing else."

"Sorry, but I can't do that jutsu." Naruto said.

"What a pity... If you could, you would pass. But as you can't, you fail." Naruto lowered his head and walked out of room.

* * *

"What do you think about Naruto?" The Hokage asked nine jounins in his office that were watching the exam through the crystal ball.

"He failed like De..." One of the jounins started, but caught Sarutobi's look that promised him A LOT of pain if he finished that sentence.

"Naruto is much stronger than he lets on." Not looking away from his precious orange book said silver-haired jounin known as Hatake Kakashi. "This boy has a lot of potential. I think, that you should pass him, Hokage-sama."

"But why?" Another jounin asked. "He couldn't even do clone. It's E-rank jutsu! How someone that weak could become shinobi of Konoha?"

"Naruto has incredible amount of chakra. That is the reason he can't do simple jutsus. But if you saw, he was about to do B-ranked earth style cloning jutsu when he was stopped." The Hokage said. "Physical clones made of stone are much better that simple illusions."

* * *

Naruto was sitting on the branch of tree near the academy building. He knew that Mizuki would do anything to fail him. True, this wasn't the reason for his current bad mood. Those fangirls of Uchiha - that was the reason... Now Naruto needed to do something to become genin...

"Hey, Naruto!" Boy looked down and saw Mizuki. "I know that you are angry with me for failing you. But in rules it is said that you must perform clone jutsu and nothing else." Naruto thought that this could be his chance. "But there is still one thing you can do to pass this exam."

'_Yes!_' "What is it? What I must do?" Blond boy asked.

"It is simple. You need to steal the forbidden scroll from the Hokage tower. This is the test for your steals abilities and on spot thinking. Are you in?" The white-haired chuunin said.

'_So you__'ve__ decided to make your move, Mizuki?_' Naruto thought "Yes."

"Good. Than meet me in four hours in the forest near fifth training ground."

"Hai." Naruto leaped off the tree and ran towards the Hokage tower.

'_Now all __I__ have to do is to wait for the scroll and then kill you, demon!_' Mizuki disappeared via shunshin.

* * *

Naruto entered the Hokage tower and went straight to Sarutobi's office. He heard voices from that side of the door, but his business was very important and needed to be done right now... Naruto knocked. Second later bearded jounin opened the door.

"What do you need, kid?" Asked man.

"I need to speak with Hokage-sama." Naruto said. And then added: "Now."

"Hey, Pa, this is Naruto boy and he wishes to speak with you right now." The jounin shouted.

"Asuma, how many times have I said you not to call me 'Pa' during jounin meetings?" Asuma visibly shrank under Hokage's, and fathers, furious glare. "What is it, Naruto?" Old man asked, now standing right in front of the blond boy.

"Can we speak in private?" Sarutobi nodded. they went into the corridor and entered a supply room. Hokage performed handseals for the silencing jutsu. "This is about Mizuki. He made his move." Naruto said.

"Oh, and what was it?" The Hokage asked.

"After he failed me in the exam, he said that I still can pass if I take the Forbidden scroll from this tower and give it to him. I suppose that he will flee from this village with the scroll. But he wants me to steal it so I will be guilty one there." Naruto tried to explain.

"I see... When you came here, Fukasaku-sama said that you can defeat average chuunin. Hope you still can do that." The boy nodded. "Good. So, here is the plan: you'll take that scroll. I'll make false search party, so there will be no suspicions. When you meet with Mizuki, you'll have to protect the scroll and defeat him. There will be a platoon of ANBU just in case you need help." Naruto nodded again. "This will be B-rank mission and if you complete it, you'll get your hitae-ate and note in your personal record."

"Hai."

"So, Naruto, the scroll you are looking for is in the..." Old man explained how to get Forbidden scroll without being caught. "And remember, I give you fifteen minutes to take it and flee from the tower." Naruto nodded. The Hokage paused for a second to release the silencing jutsu. "Mission start!"

* * *

Iruka was making himself a cup of coffee. He just woke up. Suddenly he heard somebody knocking on his door. Sighing, scarred chuunin went to the door and faced Mizuki, who was obviously in a great hurry.

"Something happened, Mizuki?" Iruka asked.

"Naruto stole the Forbidden scroll and is trying to flee the village. We must catch him as fast as we can!" The white-haired chuunin almost yelled.

"Shit!" Iruka ran into his room, took his gear, and joined search party, forgetting about his coffee: news he just received were enough to wake him up completely...

* * *

Three hours later he entered forest near one of the training grounds. And to his surprise, he found Naruto in the first clearing. Blond boy looked like he was training for at least several hours straight... That was strange...

"Found you!"

"Iruka-sensei? Are you all right? we were said that you were unwell today." Naruto said.

"What the hell are you doing? You stole the Forbidden scroll, Naruto! They can execute you for this!" The scarred chunnin yelled.

'_Shit! Nobody thought that there would be anybody beside me, Mizuki and ANBU... What must __I__ do? Tell him about my mission from Hokage? Or just say that __I__ did it to pass Mizuki's test?_' Naruto thought. '_The s__econd one, __I__ think. Mizuki mustn't know, that __I__ know what he is planning..._' "Oi, sensei, I failed my exam today, but Mizuki-sensei said that I still can pass if I give him this scroll."

"What?" Then it hit Iruka: Mizuki wanted this scroll for himself and just made Naruto do all the dirty work. But before he could think about any way around, Mizuki appeared in the clearing.

"You found him before me... What a pity... Oh, Iruka, don't be so sad, you'll be buried as a hero who tried to prevent the demon from fleeing the village with the valuable scroll." Mizuki laughed. "Naruto, you, brat, you know, why everybody hates you? You are demon! You are the Kyuubi! Now, die, demon brat!" The white-hired chuunin took fuuma shuriken from his back and launched it at Naruto. But jumped in front of the blond boy and blocked the projectile with his kunai. "What are you doing? Why are you protecting him? He killed your family!" The white-haired chuunin yelled.

"No, Naruto is not the Kyuubi. I also heard those rumours, but I didn't take that on trust so I watched him. Naruto may be loud and not the best student, hell, he may be infuriating sometimes, but he is nothing like demon: he has no hatred. He is just orphan child with a great burden to carry." Iruka replied. "And as a teacher, I must protect my students with everything I have!"

"So much the worse for you..." Mizuki threw the second big shuriken and Iruka couldn't block it. He waited for pain to come, but the only thing he felt was how he hit the ground with his right side. Scarred chuunin looked up and saw Naruto where he himself was a moment ago with fuuma shuriken in the middle of his chest. There were dark red outlining around boy's eyes.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." Naruto opened his eyes, yellow with the rectangular horizontal pupil, like the toads have. He took shuriken out of his body and dropped it on the ground. "Mizuki-teme, you tried to kill my precious person. You'll pay for that!"

"Like idiot like you can do anything to me, demon scum!" Mizuki reached for his pouch, took out a kunai and prepared for the attack. Naruto didn't charge into the combat right away. Instead he hit the ground, creating a small earthquake, that sent the white-haired chuunin flying. In the air Mizuki couldn't dodge Naruto's punch, and his attempt to block it failed as both his arm broke from the tremendous force behind that punch. Mizuki flew through four thick trees, before stopping in the rock. Naruto appeared in front of the traitorous chuunin with Forbidden scroll in his hands.

"One: never underestimate you opponent. And two: never betray Konoha. Take him!" Seven ANBU units dropped in front of the blond from the trees, grabbed Mizuki and disappeared with him via shunshin. Second later the Hokage himself appeared in a whirl of wind and leaves.

"Good work, Naruto, mission success." The old man said. "You're wounded. Shouldn't you visit hospital?" Naruto shook his head.

"Nah, I'll be as good as new the next morning. And, you know, I hate hospitals." The Hokage nodded and than he looked at Iruka. "All that you saw about Naruto's abilities is an S-rank secret for now." The scarred chunnin audibly gulped and nodded. "Good, here you go, Naruto." Sarutobi took new Leaf hitae-ate from his robe's pocket and gave it to Naruto.

"Thank you, Old man!" The blond boy said while tying hitae-ate around his head.

"Naruto! Show some respect to the Hokage!" Iruka almost yelled at the blond boy.

"Oh, it's OK, Iruka-san." Old man replied. "Now, Naruto, come with me." Naruto took Hokage's hand and they both disappeared in a swirl of wind and leaves.

* * *

Second later they appeared in the Hokage's office.

"Oh, Hokage-jiji, hope you won't be very angry that I learned a move from this scroll. Shadow clone to be exact. I just had nothing to do while I was waiting for Mizuki to appear..." Naruto said quietly.

"You learned A-rank ninjutsu in three hours?" Hokage shouted. Naruto immediately stepped back. Sarutobi saw that and calmed down. "Sorry, Naruto, just a bit shocked... I think that this may be an extra reward for your mission... And I have another mission for you."

"What is it?" The blond asked.

"It will be long-term mission. You'll be put as a third team member on Sasuke Uchiha's team. Your objectives will be restraining said boys ego: if it will continues to grow, I'm afraid, he will explode." Both men chuckled. "And second, you'll watch over him. I'm afraid, he may betray village for the power. Sasuke has unhealthy obsession with his revenge and his mental health is questionable. But council closes their eyes on that as he is the last 'oh-so-precious' Uchiha in the village."

"Even if I don't like him, I agree." Naruto said. "Konoha doesn't need one more traitor. Especially Uchiha."

"Good..." Hokage lighted his pipe. "It was a long day for you. And tomorrow you have your team placement. Get some rest..."

"Hai." Naruto replied, while exiting old man's office.

* * *

**some statistics**:  
reviews = 19  
story alerts = 34  
favourite story = 16  
hit/visitors = 503/471

not too bad for just prologue i think...

**Naruto's pairing voting results (both from reviews and from the poll):**  
Yugito = 13  
Tamaki = 9  
Temari = 8  
Tayuya = 7  
Ino = 5

harem = 3  
Hana = 2  
Karin, Ten-ten, Anko, Kurenai, Tsume, Shizune, Tsunade, female Kyuubi = 1 (each)

voting continues...


	3. Team 7

Hi, everyone. I'm back and i have second chapter!

**review responce:**  
**Thousand Tailed Holy FlashFang**, **sh8ad8ow**, **nm1716**, **FumetsuKaji**, **evilfrog1**, **geetac**, thank you!  
**Demonkid**, i'll think 'bout that.  
**ElRusso**, i also don't agree with shunshin being D-rank jutsu, but this was the only rank i found for it, so...

**jutsu list:  
Shunshin **- (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu  
**kawarimi **- (E-rank) Change of body stance - substitutes user with nearby object  
**henge **- (E-rank) Transformation - allows user to transform into another person or object  
**Doton: iwa bushin** - (B-rank) Earth style: stone clone - (credit for this jutsu goes to PalXan from _animeforum(dot)ru_) creates stone-made solid copy of user. Stone clones are physically strong and have their own mind (although very weak so are most effectively used as a 'puppets'). Stone clones are easily affected by genjutsu. They are pretty hard to destroy physically, but have limited lifetime (the more chakra they are given when created, the longer their 'life' is). To create stone clone user must be near any sourse of material for clone (stone/brick-made walls, stone blocks, stones, sandy/rocky ground etc.)  
**kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**Sennen goroshi** - (E-rank) Thousand years of pain - taijutsu move, based on a strong chakra impulse through bare hands or any weapon, directed to target's weak point. It is not letal, but still very painful.  
**Fuuton: Reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - strong gust of wind sent towards his target. When acting in conjunction with another thrown weapon, the wind can increase its power and deadliness.  
**Doton: Doryuudan - **(unknown rank. must be B or A) Earth style: earth dragon projectile - using chakra, user creates dragon head from mud. Dragon head will shoot mud balls at its taget.  
**Raiton: Hooharu - **(D-rank) Lightning style: shock - my original ninjutsu (i hope). User creates discharge with lightning natured chakra and sends it to its target directly or through any conductor (e.g. wire)

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'_  
**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power / jutsus / Iruka's 'demon head' speaking"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'_**

_**AN:  
**_* I don't like Sakura. So if you are her fan, LEAVE!  
* there will be no major changes up to chuunin exams, so ...wait.

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 2: Team 7**

First thing Naruto did in the mourning, after two laps around the village, shower and breakfast, he went to market district and, with many difficulties, like people who didn't want to sell him anything, bought new clothes. He decided that he was to change his style a bit since he was genin of Konohagakure now. After that he went to Hokage tower to make photo for his ninja registration. As it was still a bit early in the morning, there was no one except photographer.

With his photo made, Naruto went to Hokage to give it to him. Again, there were no visitors, so he had no need to wait. Naruto give his registration form, now completed with photo, when someone else ran into the office.

"Get ready, Old man! I'll defeat you today!" Naruto saw eight-nine year old darkhaired boy. Most conspicuous detail about this boy was very long green scarf he wore around his neck. Boy tried to attack Hokage, but tripped over his own scarf and fell on the floor face first. Naruto snatched him by his collar and lifted him into the air. "You! Put me down! You know who i am?!" Boy shouted.

"I don't care who you are. You tried to attack Hokage." Naruto stated.

"I'm Hokage's grandson! Put me down!" Naruto looked at Sarutobi. Aged man nodded.

"Yeah... Naruto, meet my grandson, Konohamaru." Blond shinobi nodded and put Konohamaru boy down. "So, Naruto, your mission starts in a few hours. Are you ready?"

"Mission?" Konohamaru asked. Boy looked at his grandfathers table and saw Naruto's papers. "He is just giving you ninja registration form!"

"True, but he already completed B-rank mission. Naruto is much stronger than everybody thinks." Hokage said.

"Here you are, honorable grandson. You again tried to attack Hokage-sama?" Panting jounin in dark glasses entered office. Man shot glare of hatred towards Naruto, who decided that this was his time to disappear.

* * *

Naruto was walking towards academy. And somebody was following him using awful camouflage: parallelepipedal 'stone' made from old cardboard. Deciding that he had enough, Naruto stopped and in a single movement of his foot sent 'stone' flying leaving camouflageless Konohamaru on the ground.

"What do you want from me?" He asked younger boy.

"Grandpa said you are strong. Teach me something cool!" Konohamaru asked.

"Well... Why do you want to defeat old man and take his place?" Naruto asked in response.

"Everybody sees me as 'honorable grandson', but i want them to see me for who i am, not who i'm related to!" Younger boy almost shouted.

"Hm. That is a good reason. But are you ready to be Hokage?" Konohamaru looked at Naruto not understanding what older boy meant. "I mean, Hokage must be strong 'cause he needs this strength to protect everyone in the village. He is responsible for everyone and if he makes mistake people may be hurt or killed and Hokage would be the reason. If you aren't ready to be responsible for everyone there, you shouldn't be Hokage." Konohamaru thought about t and became a bit sad. "But as i said, you reason for power is good enough, so i'll teach you something." Younger boy's face lit up.

They turned from the street and entered park and found secluded clearing.

"Here we are. I'll teach you modified henge. It doesn't create smoke clouds and is a bit more stable than usual, but requires more chakra - this will be D-rank jutsu, not E, like normal. Ah, in this version you can make minor changes without doing jutsu over." Naruto did handsigns slowly enough and blue ring rose from his feet changing him into perfect replica of Hokage. "When you do this jutsu you need to have clear picture of whom or what you want to transform into. Just like it is normal henge." Konohamaru nodded and did handsigns Naruto showed him. First attempt, of course, could be counted as a failure... Hokage's grandson looked like something, only distantly resembling human.

* * *

Hour and fifteen minutes later Konohamaru was finally able to do modified henge normally. Naruto looked at sun and suddenly remembered something.

"Sorry, but need to hurry. I have team placement in ten minutes." Naruto ran from the park. When he entered village streets, he immediately jumped to the roof and ran there to reach academy faster. Naruto entered academy when he had only two minutes left. He entered classroom and took his usual place, when he was 'greeted' by Sakura.

"Why you came here, idiot?! Only those who passed exams can be here!!!" Pinkhaired banshee yelled. Naruto checked if he was deaf now. When he was sure he wasn't, he answered.

"If you stop bitching and take better look at me, you'll find the reason." Naruto said, pointing to hitae-ate on his head.

"Where did you, loser, steal that?!" Blond boy put his hands on his eas, so Sakura's screams weren't hurting them. "You should go to its owner now and give it back!!!"

"SILENCE!" Iruka yelled, saving Naruto from further torture. "Thank you. We are here today for you team placement."

"But what is Naruto doing here. He stole somebody's hitae-ate!" There's no stopping for Sakura.

"Sakura. Hokage personally passed Naruto, so if you question his desicion, ask him. If there are no more questions, let's start." Iruka-sensei read list of teams along with their future sensei. "...Team seven: Sasuke Uchiha..." Silent 'Hn' was heard from Sasuke. "...Haruno Sakura..." Pinkhaired girl yelled 'YES!!! Take that, Ino-pig'. Naruto had to use all his will not to yell 'NO!!!'. "...Sakura, be quiet. Last member of team seven will be Uzumaki Naruto..." This time Sakura yelled 'NO!!!'. "...Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team eight..." Naruto wasn't listening to Iruka-sensei anymore. He took his scroll with jutsu and began reading...

* * *

Two and a half hours later only team seven was there in the classroom. All other teams already met their senseis. Sasuke was, as usual, brooding about his revenge, Naruto was reading his scroll and Sakura was dying from boredom. Then door opened and silverhaired jounin in standard attire with mask on lower part of his face and headband over his left eye looked in.

"YOU ARE LATE!!!" Sakura yelled. Jounin ignored here.

"First impression: one of you is loud, others are boring. Meet me on the roof in five minutes." Jounin disappeared in a poof of smoke before anybody could say him anything.

Three young genins walked to the roof where they found same silverhaired jounin sitting on the railing with orange book in his hands. When genins sat on the rungs, he closed his book and hid it in the pouch.

"Well, hello. Let's introduce ourselves. I mean your likes, dislikes, hobbies and plans for the future."

"Why don't you tell us about yourself first?" Sakura asked.

"OK." Jounin smiled with his only visible eye. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes..." He paused. "Well, i have many hobbies and i really don't have plans for the future." All three genins thought along the line 'Hell, the only thing we learned is his name.' "You're next, pinky."

"...My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes are..." She looked at Sasuke and squeaked. "My dislikes are Ino-pig, This idiot." She pointed at Naruto. "And unpunctual people. My hobbies..." Sakura looked at Sasuke and squeaked again. "My plans for the future..." Looked at Sasuke squeaked and blushed crimson. Uchiha boy shivered.

_'fangirl.'_ Kakashi thought. "Blond, you are next."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are... Nature and its serenity, my senseis, my friend and precious people. I like training and tasty food." _'And love you, nee-tyan'_ "My dislikes are traitors, those who hate others without knowing them or a good reason to do so. My plans for the future... I don't really know yet, but i want peace for everyone. Or at least for as many people as possible." Kakashi nodded.

"And brooding boy."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have few likes and many dislikes. I don't have hobbies. My plans for the future... No, ambition, is to kill certain man and revive my clan." Uchiha boy ignored 'Sasuke-sama is so co-o-o-o-ol' from Sakura.

_'Avenger, his fangirl and pacifist... I have interesting team this year.'_ "OK. For today you are free, but tomorrow at six o'clock at third training ground you'll have your real genin test."

"WHAT?! We are genins already!" Sakura yelled.

"No. Academy test is only to see if you're capable to be genin of Konohagakure. Your sensei, me, will decide, if you'll became active duty genin. Remeber, there is sixty six percent of failure in this test... And a piece of advise for you: don't have breakfast if you don't want to puke. Bye." Kakashi disappeared in a whirl of wind and leaves.

*******

Naruto was the last one, save for Kakashi, of course, to arrive at training ground number three. He was greeted by tummy rumblings from Sakura and Sasuke. In was five fifty seven in the morning... And they waited for Kakashi... Sasuke was brooding, Sakura was thinking about the ways to go on a date with Sasuke... Naruto was reading his scroll...

"Yo!" Kakashi, who had big backpack greeted.

"YOU ARE LATE!!!" Naruto and Sakura shouted. Well, it was almost nine now...

"Sorry, black cat crossed my road so i had to walk long way to avoid bad luck." Silverhaired jounin smiled with his visible eye.

"LIER!!!" Sakura yelled. Kakashi ignored her.

"Anyway..." He took big alarmclock from his backpack and set them for ten thirty. Then he took two bells and tied them to his belt. "...Your test will be to get one of these bells. Those who won't do that till time goes off will go back to academy..."

"But there are only two bells..." Sakura began.

"This means one of you will definetely go back to academy. Oh, almost forgot..." He took two bentos from his backpack. "...After the test is finished, one of you, the worst from this team, will be tied to a tree, while other two will eat lunch in front of him... You can use any jutsu or tools and remember, come at me with intent to kill or you won't get bell. You have ninety minutes. Start!" Sasuke and Sakura disappeared from the clearing, but Naruto remained there. "Aren't you going to hide?"

"If we must attack you, then why run and hide from you?" Answered Naruto. Then he reached for his pouch and took smoke bomb from it. Next second there was big smoke hiding Naruto from Kakashi.

_ 'Interesting move...'_ Then two dozens of shurikens, glowing with chakra, flew from the smoke, most with Kakashi's belt as a target_. 'If they connect with me, he can draw first blood there...'_ Jounin leaned right avoiding shurikens, when wind chakra from them created elongations for the blades. And one of these chakra blades cut wires with the bells.

"Got them!" Naruto burst from his smoke screen, trying to catch falling bells.

_ 'Shit! I underestimated him.'_ Kakashi did first thing that came to his mind to save bells from advancing genin. He kawarimied with them. Naruto, who already thought he had his bell, tripped over Kakashi. Silverhaired jounin caught bells and spun around, his hands doing false handsigns, finishing with Tiger seal. "**Konoha secret taijutsu art: Sennen goroshi!**" Jounins fingers connected with Naruto's ass. Next moment blond genin turned into stone dust, creating another smoke screen. _'Stone clone?.. Shit!'_ Years on battlefield allowed Kakashi to react on time to block attack from the behind. Kakashi moved with the speed that clearly said that he wasn't jounin for nothing and his knee connected with Naruto's stomach. This Naruto poofed out of existence as a cloud of smoke_. 'Shadow clone? Naruto is a way too strong for 'deadlast' genin...'_

"**Fuuton: Reppushou!**" Wind jutsu in a form of hand hit ground in front of Kakashi, rising clouds of dust. On his reflexes Kakashi blocked incoming attack and threw Naruto backwards. Jounin charged and delivered punch to Naruto's chest, sending him into the nearest tree. Before Naruto rose back to his feet, Kakashi knocked him unconscious. Then Kakashi tied him to the tree.

_'OK... One is temporary down... Let's find two other...'_ Then silverhaired jounin disappeared from the clearing via shunshin.

* * *

_ 'Loser. I can do better.'_ Thought Sasuke, who was watching this short fight from his hiding spot. _'Though that wind jutsu pretty strong. I need to learn it.'_ Uchiha left his spot to find Kakashi and take a bell from him.

_ 'If that idiot can fight like this, what my Sasuke-sama can do?'_ Thought Sakura, who also saw Naruto fighting Kakashi.

* * *

Naruto regained conscious from the LOUD scream, that echoed through the forest on the training ground. As he was tied to the tree, he couldn't do anything himself. Without doing any handsigns Naruto summoned stone clone that untied him, before returning back to the ground where it rose from. Now free, blond genin ran towards the place from where scream came from. There he found unconscious Sakura lying in the middle of small clearing. It looked like she was knocked out with some type of genjutsu. Naruto lugged her to the trees and sent small impulse of his chakra to her to disrupt illusion. Sakura opened her eyes, saw Naruto and screamed again. She hit blond with all her might, sending him into the tree on the opposite side of the clearing.

"Why did you do that?! Why did you kill Sasuke-sama?!" She yelled, advancing to Naruto.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto could not understand what was going on. "I never saw him since this test started."

"LIER!!!" Sakura continued advancing, preparing to turn Naruto into bloody pulp. "Don't lie to me! You killed him so that you'll have his bell!" Deciding, that the best Sakura was unconscious Sakura, Naruto moved faster than she thought he could, and knocked her unconscious...

Twenty minutes after Naruto found Kakashi again. This time jounin had his orange book in front of his face. Both bells were still with him. Seeing that Naruto found him, Kakashi put his book into the pouch and got ready for attack.

"**Doton: Doryuudan!**" Naruto, after doing hadasings, slammed his hands to the ground and large mud-made dragon head rose. It opened 'mouth' and began shooting mud projectiles to Kakashi, who did everything to avoid being hit, at the same time advancing towards Naruto. This time blond was able to block jounins punch, but his jutsu was disrupted and he himself flew into the tree.

"You know, you are too active... You need some rest." Kakashi threw something and in the next second Naruto was tied to the tree with wire. Metal wire. And lightning that started in Kakashi's free hand made Naruto nervous.

"If any of us can't get that damn bell on his own, than we must attack together or what?" Jounin nodded.

"**Raiton: Hooharu!**" Kakashi sent electric current through wire and knocked Naruto unconscious again...

* * *

Naruto regained conscious only to her alarmclock ringing. Their time was over. He slowly walked towards the clearing they started this test from. He was the last one to enter clearing. So he wasn't killed by Sakura on spot, but still was throwing dark glares at him. Kakashi appeared in front of three genins in a whirl of wind and leaves.

"Seeing as none of you could get one of these bells..." Jounin pointed to two bells on his belt. "...You all fail this test." He saw three genins hung their heads. "But i'm in a good mood today, so you'll have another chance, but rules will be tougher. Now you'll thirty minutes to get some rest. Naruto will be tied 'cause he was tied to the trees twice today." Kakashi smiled with his visible eye. After he tied Naruto to the tree, he gave bentos to Sasuke and Sakura. "You two can eat. But don't give anything to Naruto or don't free him or you won't another chance to get the bell." With this silverhaired jounin disappered via shushin.

_ 'Sasuke-sama could touch bells, idiot could cut them from Kakashi's belt. So if they work together, they'll have bells for Sasuke-sama and me. And idiot will go the place where he must be - academy!'_ Sakura thought_. 'But if Naruto is hungry, he will be useless.'_

_'If i make those two to distract Kakashi, i'll get both bells for myself and will be free from the deadweight. But to do so, those two must be in their top form, so - replete.'_ Sasuke thought.

"Oi, Naruto, want some?" Sakura asked, pointing with chopsticks to her bento.

"No, Sakura, use mine." Sasuke moved his bento near Sakura's.

"But can't eat on my own. I'm tied to the tree, remember!" Naruto said.

"I will not feed you!" Sakura yelled.

"Than at least untie me!" Naruto yelled back. Sakura thought for a second, remembering jounin's words, but decided that she may be lucky and he won't see her acting, so she took kunai from her pouch and was ready to cut wire, when Kakashi appeared out of nowhere. He loojed VERY angry. At the same time sun disappeared in heavy clouds.

"You didn't listen to me and violated my rules. Your last words?"

"To get those bells one man isn't enough." Sasuke said.

"Yes, we must work together." Sakura added.

"Is that it?" All three genins nodded. "Then i have only one thing to say... you pass." Clouds disappeared and Kakashi's face returned it's usual neutral expression.

"What? Why?" Sakura asked.

"Objective of this test was to see if you can work together. You aren't split into TEAM of three for nothing. Those, who violate the rules are trash, that is true. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. Remember this." Kakashi smiled. "And meet me tomorrow there for you training, team seven." Then he packed alarmclock to his backpack, freed Naruto and disappeared from the clearing via shunshin.

* * *

**statistics:**  
reviews = 36  
story alerts = 56  
favourite story = 34  
hit/visitors = 1605/1354 (1000 hits *YAHOO*, thanks, everyone!)

**Naruto's pairing voting results (both from reviews and from the poll):**  
Yugito = 22  
Tamaki = 18  
Temari = 15  
Tayuya = 13  
Ino = 9

Harem = 7  
Tsume, Hana, Tsunade = 4 (each)  
Anko = 3  
Tenten = 2  
Ayame, Hanabi, Karin, Shizune = 1 (each)

you can vote till 15 may 'cause i need to write next chapter and to move other poll to profile. harem, Tsunade, Hana and Tsume added to the poll. we start again.


	4. First meeting & Nami no kuni: part 1

OK... here i am with next chapter...

**review responce:**  
**flame naruto**, thank you, but... Sakura will live... for now. ^_^  
**FFwatchdog**, **Jimbobob5536**, **secret12345**, **blue-white cuddly bear**, **dbtiger63**, **Liger01**, **god of all**, thank you!  
**Legend3881**, i'll try to think about something to fix that...  
**dragoon-zerox**, Hokage will find that out. but too late to do anything but leave it to his successor, if i won't change my mind.  
**Cenright**, yes, but not much from what he was 'allowed' to show by Fukasaku. Plus Kakashi was holding back too. And in this story Third Hokage couldn't prevent some of younger generation to know 'bout Kyuubi, so Sakura ...well... thought that those rumors were true and that Naruto would kill for being his obstacle in the bell test. But later, when she saw Sasuke alive, she started to treat our favourite blond as human again. And here are the changes (or their beginning) you wanted to see.

**jutsu list:**  
**Shunshin **- (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu  
**kawarimi **- (E-rank) Change of body stance - substitutes user with nearby object  
**Doton: iwa bushin** - (B-rank) Earth style: stone clone - (credit for this jutsu goes to PalXan from _animeforum(dot)ru_) creates stone-made solid copy of user. Stone clones are physically strong and have their own mind (although very weak so are most effectively used as a 'puppets'). Stone clones are easily affected by genjutsu. They are pretty hard to destroy physically, but have limited lifetime (the more chakra they are given when created, the longer their 'life' is). To create stone clone user must be near any sourse of material for clone (stone/brick-made walls, stone blocks, stones, sandy/rocky ground etc.)  
**kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**Doton: Doryuudan - **(unknown rank. must be B or A) Earth style: earth dragon projectile - using chakra, user creates dragon head from mud. Dragon head will shoot mud balls at its taget.  
**Katon: Goukakyuu **- (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales fire from his mouth.  
**Fuuton: Sabaku no kaze -** (D-rank) Wind style: desert wind - my original ninjutsu (again, i hope). this is supplementary ninjutsu that creates hot winds around user. Main purpose is to keep user warm and dry.  
**Suirou no jutsu** - (C-rank) Water prison jutsu - close range supplementary ninjutsu that causes water to form spherical prison around target. User needs to constantly touch water prison so that can exist.

**Voting results****:**  
*** **Yugito = 34** ***  
Tamaki = 24  
Harem = 23  
Temari = 18  
Tayuya = 17  
Ino = 9  
Tsunade, Hana = 7 (each)  
Tsume = 5  
Anko = 4  
Kurenai = 3  
Tenten = 2  
Ayame, Hanabi, Karin, Shizune = 1 (each)

so this one will be **Naruto/Yugito** (with some Naruto/fem-Kyuubi in mindscape) story (still it can turn into Naruto/Yugito/fem-Kyuubi, Naruto/Yugito/? or even Naruto/Harem if i feel like that ^_^)

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'_  
**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power / jutsus / Iruka's 'demon head' speaking"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'_**

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 3: First meeting & Nami no kuni**

Next day there was first training of team seven. It should have started at eight in the mourning, but it was already almost ten and neither Naruto nor Kakashi had appeared yet, which annoyed Sakura greatly. Sasuke, as usually, was brooding and seemed not to care about anything in the world except for his revenge... Minutes were dragging on too slowly for pinkhaired kunoichi's likes... Finally Naruto appeared. But he looked different than yesterday. His khaki jacket remained, but other clothes looked like standard chuunin or jounin attire minus vest. Blond boy had kunai holster on each leg and pouch on his hip.

"YOU ARE LATE!!!" Sakura yelled. "AND WHAT IS THAT?! ARE YOU TRYING TO LOOK COOLER THAN SASUKE-SAMA?!"

"But Kakashi-sensei is always late... He probably won't show himself in next twenty minutes, so don't flare up." Naruto began.

"AND WHAT'S WITH NEW LOOKS, IDIOT-NARUTO?! DON'T EVEN TRY TO IMPRESS ME!" Pinkhaired girl continued yelling

"Just thought that if i'm officialy genin now, i need new clothes. And why would i try to impress you?" Naruto replied.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, DEADLAST?!" They could hear Sasuke's 'When those two will shut up?' but Sakura ignored it and tried to punch Naruto, but blond dodged it quiet easily. Sakura attempted to hit him again, but silverhaired jounin chose this moment to appear at training ground.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted. "Time for some training."

*******

For next two months team seven was training under Kakashi, in teamwork mostly with some stamina and strength building. Also they had done around thirty missions, D-rank, which were more like damn chores that anybody could do. Well, at least those mission gave money income...

Team seven entered briefing hall at Hokage tower, as they were going to take another mission...

"Hokage-sama." Kakashi spoke. "Team seven is there requests mission."

"Let's see what we have for you..." Old man replied, looking through some scrolls. "Oh, here we are. You can catch Tora cat..." Hokage sighed. "For the fifth time... Or you can help repairing roofs in the market district or dig the well..."

"Hokage-j... -sama, but can't we have something more serious?" Naruto asked. "There missions aren't serious and don't help us to progress."

"Naruto, you are just fresh out of academy genin, those missions are just for you." Said Iruka, who was also present there.

"Iruka, i know that you don't want them to do anything risky, but they aren't your students anymore..." Sarutobi said. "What will you say, Kakashi, is your team ready for C-rank mission?" Silverhaired jounin thought for several seconds.

"I think, they are ready."

"Then... Sasuke, Sakura, do you want to take C-rank mission?" Hokage asked.

"I will take it. This will make me one step closer to..." Sasuke began.

"OK, OK, what about you, Sakura?" Kunoichi of team seven herself was very afraid of taking C-rank mission, but her Sasuke-sama was taking it, so she should too.

"I'm in." She stated weakly.

"So, how about escort mission? Client asks for protection from bandits on is way to the Land of Waves." Sarutobi asked.

"We will take it." Kakashi stated.

"Then... Send client in." Hokage ordered. Another doors to briefing hall opened and man entered. He was in his fifties and was dressed in cargo pants, pretty old undershirt, his jacket was tied on his waist. Man had sake bottle in his hand and was obviously drunk.

"And these brats are going to protect me?! Those pinkhaired girl who is ready to wet herself at the sight of enemy, duckbutt haired boy who tries to look cooler than he is and blond punk who looks less intelligent than my bottle? I paid for shinobi, not these brats!" Man ranted. After he finished, Kakashi had to restrain Sasuke and Naruto - Sakura from tearing him into shreds. Hokage sighed.

"Tazuna-san, it's not recommended to insult those who are going to protect you, you know. And i assure you that they are capable of completing mission you gave them. Also they have one of strongest jounins of the village as their sensei."

"Fine, whatever." Man, now identified as Tazuna, said. "Remember brats, you are protecting me, Tazuna – super bridge builder!"

"OK, team, meet me and Tazuna-san at southern gate in three hours. Take everything you'll need for a two-week long mission." Kakashi said.

* * *

Three hours later everyone was standing in front of southern gates. Even Kakashi was there on time! Sasuke and Sakura, like Kakashi and Tasuna had big backpacks with them, but Naruto didn't.

"Dobe, why haven't you taken anything for the mission?" Uchiha asked. "You know, no one will share anything with you."

"I have all that i need." Naruto replied. Sasuke countered with 'Hn. Whatever.'

"OK, we'll use rhombus formation. Sasuke - front, Sakura - right, Naruto - left, I'll the rear one." Kakashi said. Genins nodded and took their positions. Their first C-rank mission started.

*******

First day was completely, other than some arguing between three genins, eventless. Group moved extremely slowly, by ninja standards, as their client, Tazuna, was civilian and couldn't keep up with them if they started running... The only interesting thing that happened during night camp was the fact that Naruto really had all he needed... sealed in a scroll, which earned raised eyebrow from silverhaired jounin, 'Showoff.' from Sakura and 'Teach me that!' from Sasuke, which blond refused.

Next day also started eventless, but around noon Naruto sensed something. They entered area where nature itself seemed to be alerted. Blond reached for his sage mode and immediately sensed two chakra signature in approximately fifty meters in front of them. But they looked like puddle of water.

_ 'Ambush.'_ Naruto looked at Kakashi and man nodded: he too saw it. But Sasuke or Sakura seemed oblivious to it. When group passed strange puddle, those two in the ambush decided to strike. Two cloaked figures of Kiri chuunin missing-nins, Demon brothers, rose from the puddle and attacked. They wrapped the chain, connected to their gauntlets, around Kakashi and tore him into shreds. Naruto sensed his sensei performing kawarimi one moment before he was 'killed', so he wasn't afraid as much as Sasuke was. Sakura and Tazuna were in state of pure horror.

"One down, four to go." chuunins went after Naruto and Sasuke. Uchiha dodged gauntlet slash and tore chain from it, he spun and delivered blow to his opponent's stomach at the same time performing handseals. His blow was parried, but Demon brother could do nothing to prevent next move of Sasuke.

"**Katon: Goukakyuu!**" Even if fireball wasn't done at it's full power, Kiri chuunin was now out of fight.

Naruto on his side blocked enemies attack with kunai and delivered kick to Demon brother's chest. Chuunin was unlucky and was thrown into the tree, where he lost consciousness.

"Good work, Naruto, Sasuke." Kakashi appeared on the road.

"But, sensei..." Sakura still thought that Kakashi was killed in the beginning of this short fight... Silverhaired jounin answered to her with one word:

"Kawarimi." Then he looked at Tazuna, who visibly paled. "Interesting... Those were after you, it seems, care to explain?" Bridge builder paled even more, but explained situation. Wave country was very poor because of Gato's monopoly and great bridge Tazuna was building was the only chance to save country, but Gato hired thugs, samurai and even missing-nins to stop Tazua from completing the bridge. After self proclaimed super bridge builder finished his story, Kakashi spoke. "This will be B or even A-rank mission. We should return and switch teams..."

"But, Kakashi-sensei, if we abandon this mission, it will give us nothing, i say we continue." Sasuke said. Sakura only nodded, looking at her crush. Naruto just shrugged.

"Are you sure?" Silverhaired jounin asked. All three genins nodded. "Looks like you're lucky, Tazuna. But once we complete this mission and Wave is back on its feet, you are paying us the difference between S and C-rank missions. Or we are turning back to Konoha." Bridgebuilder nodded.

"You'll be paid." So group continued its way to Wave country...

*******

Two next days were again eventless. Now it was early evening and Kakashi decided to set up a camp. Naruto volunteered to bring some water from nearby river. Blond boy ran between big trees and when he was almost on the bank, after running around another tree, he spotted blond girl there, obviously shinobi. Naruto tried to stop, but tripped over one of the roots. At the same time girl turned to him, so they both ended in the river, their lips almost connected. Both teens blushed and jumped apart, falling into their battle stances.

**_'Naru-chan... i can sense pussy cat Nibi there...'_** Came from Kyuubi.

Naruto studied the girl. She was sixteen or so years old and was half-head taller than he was. Her frame was tender and her skin was tanned a bit. Girl had long, made into braid, blond hair. She had Hidden Cloud hitae-ate on her forehead. She wore simple purple T-shirt and pants... Naruto switched his attention to Kumo kunoichi's eyes. They were brown with some green and had a bit slitted pupil. And there was ocean of pain and loneliness behind them. Those eyes... Naruto dropped his hands.

"I will not fight the one like me." Girl looked at him with confusion, not lowering her guards.

"What are you talking about, brat?" She hissed.

"You know what i'm talking about. So which one?" Blond boy asked. Kumo kunoichi still seemed not to understand him. "OK... I have Kyuubi-nee-tyan. And she says that you have Nibi." Girls eyes widened.

"You are... too?.." Naruto nodded.

"Even if i hate this word with passion, it describes us better than anything... We are jinchuuriki." Kumo kunoichi forgot that second ago she was ready to kill this boy and came close to him, touching his cheek with her fingers like not believing that he was real.

"Still, you seem to be a bit different."

"Maybe. I spent only last year with humans... Maybe, i'm really a bit different, but, i have pretty good idea what must you have gone through... I want to be friends with you - those like us need somebody, who can understand..." Naruto replied. Girl nodded.

"Of course, i'm Yugito Nii of the Hidden Cloud."

"Naruto Uzumaki from the Hidden Leaf." They just stood there for a minute, when something hit blond boy... "Sorry, but i need to return to my team." Yugito nodded and leaped away.

"Goodbye, Naruto" She said before disappearing in the forest.

"Bye..." Naruto replied. Than he ran through four handseals. "**Fuuton: Sabaku no kaze!**" Hot winds blew all around him, drying him from his fall into the river. When jutsu finished it's work, Naruto filled mess-tin and went back to the camp. There he was greeted by annoyed Sakura.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, IDIOT?!" she yelled.

"Just met nymph at the river..." Naruto replied, before starting to cook dinner everyone.

*******

Three days later group found themselves on board of small boat, sailing in the dense fog towards the Wave country mainland. On their right there was collosal stucture of the half-built bridge... They were sailing in complete silence, not to alert any of Gato men who could be near. Finally, boat hit the ground.

"OKay, i will not sail any further." Said boat owner and 'captain'.

"Well, Thank you." Tazuna said, leaving boat. Team seven was already waiting for their client there. Then they took off for the last part of their trip, to the village where Tazuna's house was.

* * *

They were walking along the road for more than two hours and were near small lake when Naruto again felt that nature was alerted. He heard something moving in the bushes and threw shuriken there. Second later terrified white rabbit emerged from the bush. Seeing this, Sakura immediately shouted at blond shinobi.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SCARE THAT POOR ANIMAL?!"

"Hmm... What white rabbit is doing here in summer time?" Silverhaired jounin spoke. "It should have been used for replacement." Suddenly Naruto felt something coming from the trees.

"Everybody down!" One moment before Kakashi he shouted. Next second huge sword flew where heads of group were and implanted itself into the tree, almost cutting it in two. Darkhaired man in blue pants appeared on the sword. Lower part of his face was hidden under bandages and he wore slashed Kirigakure hitae-ate.

"Mmm, Copy-cat Kakashi... No wonder Demon brothers lost..." Man spoke.

"Momochi Zabuza, demon of the bloody mist..." Kakashi said. "Team, guard client, he is out of your league!" Konoha jounin moved his hitae-ate up, revealing his left eye.

"Oh, great Kakashi remembers who i am? And he will use sharingan against me? What a honor!" Zabuza laughed. Both Sakura and, especially, Sasuke wondered where did their sensei got that eye from. Naruto knew that story from toads but decided to keep it to himself...

"Brats, don't worry, when i deal with your sensei, i'll kill old man and you too." Kiri missing-nin said, unleashing strong killing intent. Kakashi pared him with his own and Tazuna along with Sasuke and Sakura found it much harder to breath from fear, though Naruto seemed to be unaffected.

"Don't be afraid, i'll protect you all with my life if needed." Kakashi assured lying his hand on Sasuke's shoulder to calm him down. Zabuza only laughed and jumped to the water before performing Kirigakure no jutsu covering whole area with thick mist. Genins immediately took triangular formation around Tazuna to protect him.

"8 choices..." It seemed that mist itself was speaking... Naruto stood there completely still collecting nature's energy for his sage mode. "Liver... Lungs... Spine... Clavical vein... Neck vein... Brain... Kidneys... Heart... Which one should i choose?" Finally activating sage mode, Naruto felt Zabuza, or at least his clone, judging by chakra amount, between him, Sasuke and Tazuna, ready to cut all three of them in two. And he would be the first one to be hit by that sword... Zabuza's clone began it's attack. Naruto tried to block sword's swing with his kunai, but failed as sword cut his weapon and made inch deep wound on his chest appear. "What the hell?!" Zabuza's clone was shocked: it felt like blond's body was made of stone, not flesh, though it couldn't be iwa bushin - Naruto was there and his wound was bleeding... Naruto using clone's shock delivered sage-powered hit to it's abdominal, making it dissipate into the water; wound on blond's chest started healing at inhuman rate. Naruto concentrated hard, sensing everything around. There were two more mizu bushins of Zabuza ready to attack. Real Zabuza was currently busy fighting with Kakashi-sensei. Naruto also sensed someone hiding in the forest and watching this fight.

"**Fuuton: Sabaku no kaze!**" With sage powers justu was thirty or so times stronger, blowing mist off from whole clearing and lake. Using moment mist disappearance as a distraction, Naruto 'turned off' sage mode - no one should know about it yet. Now without their cover, Zabuza clones rushed forward, having two male genins as prime targets.

* * *

Sasuke saw attack coming and ducked, blade missing by mere centimeters. Zabuza's clone did another swing and this time Sasuke lost lock from his head.

_'Shit! I need more power to oppose him!'_ Sasuke ducked from another attack, barely seeing it. _'I need more power!!!'_ And then something happened: his vision became clearer and everything around began to move slower. Now he could predict Zabuza's clone's moves! Having no time to congratulate himself on activating his doujutsu, Sasuke blocked yet another swing on enormous blade with chakra-enforsed kunai at the same time implanting another blade of his into clone's gut. Clone smirked and punched Sasuke, sending teen flying. Even before Uchiha boy stopped skidding, 'Zabuza' was ready to cut him in two, but was stopped, courtesy of Kakashi's shuriken in the back of its head.

Naruto had no easy time too. Without his sage mode he was no match even for clone of that Kiri missing-nin Zabuza, all that blond boy could do - dodge wild swings and try to think of any plan to kill that annoying mizu bushins. Finally Naruto found opening as clone was distracted for a second by its 'brother's' death. Using that opening Naruto threw four wind-chakra charged shurikens at clone's neck, destroying it.

* * *

When Kakashi saved Sasuke, Zabuza hit him, sending him to the nearby lake. Silverhaired jounin thought about hiding in the water to catch his breath, but understood his mistake as soon as he felt that water was denser that it normally should be...

"**Suirou no jutsu!**" ex-Kiri nin caught Kakashi in the water sphere. "This prison may be made of water, but it is harder than steel one." Zabuza told, while creating single mizu bushin with onehanded handseals.

"Take Tazuna and run!" Kakashi said to his students.

"No! We don't abandon our comrades!" Naruto yelled, summoning four iwa bushins to fight Zabuza's clone. "Sasuke, do any fire jutsu on lake!"

"Zabuza is out of range!" Uchiha shouted back.

"Just do it, i have a plan how to save Kakashi-sensei!" Blond replied. Sasuke nodded.

"**Katon: Goukakyuu!**" Fireball hit water, creating wall of steam between Zabuza and genins. "And what is your plan, dobe?"

"**Kage busin!**" After creating three shadow clones, Naruto turned two of them into kunais and gave 'weapons' to the third. "**Doton: Doryuudan!**" Mud dragon provided enough distraction so that kunai-clones could be thrown at real Zabuza without any problem... But at the last second Kiri missing-nin ducked and both kunai missed him.

"You missed dobe!" Sasuke yelled.

"No." Both kunai turned back into clones and hit Zabuza on his head, making him break contact with water prison, which was holding Kakashi. And epic battle between two jounins began. At first Sasuke tried to copy water jutsu they were using with his finally activated sharingan, but soon felt his chakra reserves drained and had to deactivate his doujutsu... Finally Kakashi used Grand waterfall jutsu and severely wounded Zabuza. But before silverhaired jounin could kill his opponent, two senbon needles hit Zabuza's neck. Kakashi came close to swordsman's body and checked pulse And found none. But before he could say anything, Kiri hunter-nin appeared near body and grabbed it.

"Thank you, Konoha ninja, for helping to kill this man. I was pursuing him for several weeks. Now i'll destroy his body." With that mysterious ninja, who sounded to be around seventeen, disappeared with Zabuza's body via shunshin. Kakashi, seeing that there was no peril for his team and their client there, allowed himself to pass from chakra exhaustion.

* * *

Hm... I'm thinking 'bout adding Waterfall village (of my own creation, not the one that was in anime) and snow country missions to this story. What will you say? Poll will be in my profile from 15th June, so for now you have to leave your opinion with reviews.

**statistics:**  
reviews = 51  
story alerts = 82  
favourite story = 53  
hit/visitors = 4590/2438, thanks, everyone!

so, till next time!

* * *

Oh, and i am **VERY** sorry for a mistake that was in this and two previous chapters: -nii-??? is for brother, while -nee-??? is for sister. so **Kyuubi must be -nee-tyan**. **EDelta88**, thank you very much for pointing this error. it came from the fact that in russian -nii- and -nee- have same spelling (-нии-)... again, i'm **VERY** sorry for this mistake.


	5. First meeting & Nami no kuni: part 2

OK... here i am with next chapter... sorry, that there were no updates since may, but I kinda was having exams and then was sent to the countryside...

**review responce:  
Link Gryffindor**, **FFwatchdog**, **BrownPaperBag51**, **dbtiger63**, **Fallen-Ryu**, **Thousand Tailed Holy FlashFang**, **Irishfighter**, **Kwisatz Haderach**, **rollo101**, **Kraken77**, **harlequin320**, **Genma Sennin**, **bandgsecurtiyaw**, **HopeBreaker**, **BabLe7**, thank you!  
**Elia950**, I'll try to do that, but no guarantees ^_^  
**Artdog15**, **Sanctity of Ash**, **Timetravelviajuts**, I finally found myself beta reader, but right now he is busy, so expect edited text in august.  
**Youko-Taichou**, I'll think about that. But even if I'll write that, it'll be far from current chapters.  
**EDelta88**, once again thank you for spotting my mistake with 'nii-tyan' instead of 'nee-tyan'. And just for info: '-tyan' is the same as '-chan'. Just another spelling for ちゃん - [ti a n]; while '-nee-' is used for older sister.  
**Lord Ezra'eil**, sorry, but this is already decided to be Naruto/Yugito and Naruto/fem-Kyuubi story. But right after I finish "Two" (1-2 chapters to go), I'll star Code Geass fusion (no mecha! just need that eye) story with Naruto/Tayuya only. (though C.C. and fem-Kyuubi may have a night or two with our favourite blond)  
**InARealPickle**, I know. The rest is written in the responce to Artdog15 at rest with him/her.  
**epic farmer**, I'm trying my best to change cannon, but I still need certain events to happen. (by the way, Hinata was Sasuke's fangirl there. Before Naruto appeared at least. ^_^)  
**lazarian**, thank you. And about beta - I found one, but he will work on my stories a bit later.  
**BloodySeraphim**, no need to be that rude. And no, I won't follow your advice.

**jutsu list:**  
**Shunshin **- (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu  
**kawarimi **- (E-rank) Change of body stance - substitutes user with nearby object  
**Doton: iwa bushin** - (B-rank) Earth style: stone clone - (credit for this jutsu goes to PalXan from _animeforum(dot)ru_) creates stone-made solid copy of user. Stone clones are physically strong and have their own mind (although very weak so are most effectively used as a 'puppets'). Stone clones are easily affected by genjutsu. They are pretty hard to destroy physically, but have limited lifetime (the more chakra they are given when created, the longer their 'life' is). To create stone clone user must be near any sourse of material for clone (stone/brick-made walls, stone blocks, stones, sandy/rocky ground etc.)  
**kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**Doton: Doryuudan - **(unknown rank. must be B or A) Earth style: earth dragon projectile - using chakra, user creates dragon head from mud. Dragon head will shoot mud balls at its taget.  
**Katon: Goukakyuu **- (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales fire from his mouth.  
**Doton: Doohari -** (B-rank) Earth style: stone spike - my original ninjutsu (again, i hope). This is attack/defence ninjutsu that creates circle of big stone spikes around the user

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'_  
**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power / jutsus / Iruka's 'demon head' speaking"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'_**

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 3: First meeting & Nami no kuni. part 2**

When team seven and Tazuna finally reached bridge builder's house, they were greeted by his daughter, Tsunami. After quick and in time made dinner, all three genins almost immediately dropped off to sleep in the rooms they were settled in... Next morning they summoned by Kakashi. Man was still looking pretty bad from his chakra exhaustion. But what he said to them was much worse.

"I'm afraid, Zabuza is still alive." Sakura and Sasuke looked thunderstruck. Naruto was a bit calmer, but only a bit.

"B-but how, sensei? He was hit on his neck! No one can survive something like that!" Pinkhaired kunoichi finally blurted out.

"You remember, what was Zabuza hit with?" Silverhaired jounin asked.

"Senbon needles." Naruto said.

"Yes. If aimed correctly, these needles can put one in near-death state. But to recover from that, one will need at least one week of time." Kakashi sat on his futon. "We have to get stronger in this week..."

***

ANBU member appeared in Sarutobi's office.

"Hokage-sama, we were finally able to get a trace of the one, who spread rumors about Kyuubi in the village. It was done by one of Danzo's men." operative said.

"Anything that could be used against Danzo for fomentation of disturbance?" Old man asked.

"Unfortunately, only several eyewitnesses."

"Too bad..." Hokage sighed. "Continue investigation, please."

"As you wish, Hokage-sama." ANBU disappeared from Sarutobi's office via shunshin.

***

"So, what are you going to teach us, sensei?" Sakura asked. All three genins and their sensei were standing in the clearing of the nearby forest. Though Kakashi was using crutches, as he was still weak from his battle with Zabuza.

"I'm going to teach you tree climbing..."

"What kind of training is that?!" Sakura shouted.

"Well, listen until the end. In this exercise you will climb a tree without using your hands." Silverhaired jounin finished.

"How is that possible?" Team seven's kunoichi asked.

"Like this, sensei?" Naruto asked, while jumping between two trees, till he reached thick branch, where he stopped and was now standing head over heels on it. Two other genins as well as Kakashi were shocked, though because of different reasons: Sakura and Sasuke because they thought this was impossible while their sensei because Naruto already had obtained this skill.

"Oh, Naruto, you already know tree climbing? Why don't you teach it to you teammates then?" Kakashi heard blond muttering something like 'lazy sensei' under his breath, but ignored. Young jinchuuriki jumped down from the branch and landed near Sakura and Sasuke.

"I still don't see, how this will help us become stronger?"

"Dobe, where do you know how to do this from?" Pinkhaired kunoichi and Uchiha avenger asked almost at the same time.

"Sakura, this training has two points. First: it will allow you to use any solid surface as a pivot. And second: this will increase you chakra control, and better chakra control means less chakra usage for jutsus, while the jutsus may become more effective." Naruto explained. "And Sasuke, my sensei taught it to me when I was six or so..." Seeing as brooding boy wanted to demand something, blond jinchuuriki continued. "He won't teach you. Your name is nothing for him. And I was trained only because it was my father's last wish. My father and sensei were comrades and good friends..." Then Naruto remembered one more thing: he saw Sasuke's activated doujutsu during that fight with Zabuza. "And forget about using your sharingan eyes. Even if your mind will know what to do, your body won't be able to do that. You need to learn this through hard work." Seeing angered Sasuke, Naruto decided to do one last blow to other boy's pride. "I also have a training to do. I'll leave a clone to teach you. But if you destroy it before it explains you how to do tree climbing, you'll have to figure that on your own." Blond summoned single kage busin and then walked away to another clearing. Kakashi who watched his subordinates interact only sighed and shook his head. He will never understand these kids...

* * *

In the evening team seven was finally able to meet with the last inhabitant of Tazuna's house - bridge builder's grandson Inari. That seven years old boy ran into dining room when Kakashi and trio of his students, along with Tsunami and Tazuna were having dinner.

"Oh, Inari-kun, meet great ninjas who protected me!" Old man called.

"They are going to die." Boy stated, looking at four shinobi in the room.

"And why is that?" Naruto yelled back. Kakashi was too into reading his precious orange book to answer. Sasuke too remained quite as he was thinking about his revenge and Sakura was too shocked by the statement.

"No one can oppose Gato." Was Inari's reply.

"Yeah, and Sasuke over there can laugh." Tazuna and Kakashi chuckled, while Uchiha boy decided that Naruto wasn't worthy of his reaction this time. "What was that for?" Blond boy was rubbing bump on his head from Sakura's hit.

"Don't insult Sasuke-sama!" Pinkhaired kunoichi yelled at her blond teammate.

"Oh, shut up!" Naruto responded.

"If you want to live, run away!" Inari said, before running away from the room.

"What's with him?" Konoha's jinchuuriki asked. Tazuna sighed.

"Well... It is a long story..." And he told about village's hero Kaiza, who became father figure to Inari. And about what Gato did to that man.

"I'll go talk with him." Naruto stated after Tazuna finished telling the story. Without waiting for others to say anything, he went out of the room and reached for his sage mode. He could sense that boy now: he was on the second floor in one of the small rooms. Naruto 'turned off' sage mode and marched to where Inari was. He opened door to the boy's room and ...saw him crying. "Well..." Naruto suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "Tazuna-san told us your story and..."

"You know nothing! You, ninjas, know nothing about hardships of life!" Inari shouted through his cries. But succeeded only in angering blond jinchuuriki. Naruto in a blink of an eye was in front of younger boy, pinning him to the wall.

"So I know nothing? Let me tell you part of my story." Naruto took a deep breath to calm down and let Inari free. "Unlike you, I have no real family. Hell, I can count with my fingers those from Konoha, who don't hate me simply for who I am. And this is not all. I spent in Konoha only one year. And there were at least fifty nine assassination attempts, they tried to kill me fifty nine times! And that are only those attempts that I know about." Inari looked at Naruto not really believing in older boys story. "And tell you what, I too didn't have harshest life." Naruto paused. "Tazuna said you don't believe in heroes anymore. Well, if everyone will sit and cry like you do, there won't be any heroes. One isn't born as a hero. One can only become a hero..."

"But..." Inari tried to say something, but Naruto didn't let him.

"What 'but'? Nothing will happen if won't do something. Think about it." And Naruto left the room. Young jinchuuriki still felt anger boiling in him, so he decided to blow some steam with training, and it didn't matter that it was nine in the evening already...

* * *

Next morning darkhaired boy in girlish pink kimono was walking through the forest, collecting herbs, when he entered clearing that looked like his master trained in kenjutsu there: many thicker trees had deep cuts on their trunks, while thinner ones were just cut into two. Earth too had many gashes. Boy spotted herbs he was looking for, dismissing thoughts about what happened here for a while. He collected what he needed and was about to leave. He turned around and saw someone. Twelve or so years old blond boy in dark blue pants and sweater and khaki jacket. sleeping, leaning against one of thicker trees. Ninja of Konohagakure, judging by his hitae-ate.

"Hey!" Darkhaired boy shook sleeping blond. "You shouldn't sleep on the ground." Blond boy yawned and opened his eyes.

"Oh, it's morning already. Guess, I trained a little to much yesterday..." Blond yawned again. And then it hit him that he wasn't alone in the clearing. "Hey, who are you?"

"I'm just collecting herbs so I can heal my precious person... So... You trained and I can see you are ninja. But what are you fighting for?" Herbalist boy asked.

"I was raised in close contact with nature and believe that people should live in peace. My goal is... To bring peace to everyone. Or at least to those close to me, those I care about."

"So you too have a precious person. Only one who does something to his precious person will do it in the best way. So you will be truly strong only when you fight for those you care about."

"Yeah." Blond shinobi agreed.

"By the way, I'm Haku."

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Sorry, but I have to go to prepare medicine." Haku said, going away from Naruto.

"By the way, aren't you hunter-nin who took Zabuza's body?" Blond suddenly asked. Haku didn't show fear that stroke him with other boy's question, just shock, but he was sweating on the inside.

_'Is he a sensor-type? Or was it just a blind guess?'_ "No." He lied.

"Good. You just look like that Zabuza's man I and my team saw before. This means our enemy isn't this close to us and no one is in danger right now." Naruto explained.

_'If only you knew... If circumstances were different, I'm sure, we could become good friends, Naruto Uzumaki. Bye.'_ And Haku left the clearing.

***

Naruto was bored. Absolutely nothing happened in past four days and Zabuza was expected to appear only on the day after tomorrow, so now he was guarding Tazuna and workers on the bridge alone - Sasuke and Sakura had some more training with Kakashi. Naruto was meditating on the border of sage mode so he could feel everything around him. Suddenly he felt small creature approaching the bridge. That creature was moving on the water surface, which meant that it was one of ninja's summons. Creature came closer and Naruto could finally determine what it was. Lizard. And from what 'Bunta told him, Hidden Cloud used lizards to deliver messages. And this one clearly had him as its target. Naruto opened his eyes and after several seconds saw brown lizard with small, for human, scroll on its back. Scroll had for word written in it the way he could see them: 'from two to nine'.

"So... You wanted something from me, Yugito?" Naruto asked question to no one. Still he made his kage busin to open the scroll in case it was a trap. But luckily it wasn't, scroll contained only a message normal girl would send to normal boy, as much as jinchuuriki could be counted as normal... Lizard all the time was watching Naruto. "Hm... You're waiting for me to compose reply, so you can deliver to Yugito?" He asked small reptilian. To his surprise, lizard nodded. "Well... OK." Blond took brush and inkpot from him pouch and quickly replied to his 'nymph's' message. He rolled the scroll and gave it to the lizard. "Deliver this to Yugito Nii... And be safe." Lizard nodded and creped away...

***

It was dawn of the day when, how Kakashi thought, Zabuza would strike. Kakashi sat on the chair at the table, yawning, but already reading his orange book. With his visible eye he looked at three younger ninjas.

"OK, Team, Naruto, you'll guard Tazuna's house. Sasuke and Sakura, you'll come with me and protect people on the bridge." All three genins nodded... After the breakfast bridge builder along with jounin and two genins left, so Naruto was left alone with Tsunami and Inari... And it looked like Kakashi's prediction was right: attack on Tazuna's house, in the form of two samurai, didn't keep them waiting. Naruto defeated those two with only a pair of scratches on his arms, which were immediately taken care of, and decided to go to the bridge in case his team needed help. But he left dozen of his shadow clones, so Tazuna's house could be protected.

***

For sure it wasn't Sasuke's day. When they arrived to the bridge, all workers were knocked unconscious and there was thick mist. Then, just as silverhaired jounin predicted, Zabuza appeared out of that mist. But this time Kiri missing-nin was accompanied by the same hunter-nin boy, who took his body away during their previous battle. Sasuke defeated Zabuza's water clones easily, but that hunter-nin became real problem: he was fast, very fast and even with his sharingan Sasuke had problems following his opponents movements... And now last Uchiha of Konohagakure no Sato was lying down inside dome of ice mirrors, turned into pincushion for senbons. Kakashi was busy fighting Zabuza, so he couldn't help him. And then Sasuke suddenly saw someone approaching. Naruto! When blond boy was close enough, Sasuke did the only thing he could think of to save his ass.

"**Kawarimi!**" In a poof of smoke, they exchanged their position, so it was Naruto, who was trapped inside ice dome now.

"Oh, I got new enemy?" Hunter-nin asked noone particular, when blond Leaf ninja appeared in his dome. He reached for more needles and began throwing them at Naruto. And blond jinchuuriki in a matter of minutes got hit with senbons and was paralyzed. "Hm... You aren't as fast as previous one. I win."

"Actually... No." Naruto replied, beginning to gather natural energy.

**_'Need my help?'_** Voice in his head asked. **_'But be sure, I want my 'payment' for that.'_**

_'Thank you, but I'll be OK on my own this time... Though you want your 'payment' very much... Maybe I could give it to you just for fun?'_ Naruto felt Kyuubi nodding eagerly. _'Later, nee-tyan, I have a fight right now.'_ Vixen pouted but nodded. "You just helped me." With hisses of pain, blond ninja stood up. Now there were dark red outlinings around his now amber eyes. And there was extremely strong aura of power around boy. Hunter-nin threw more senbons at his opponent, but they just ricocheted like blond's skin was turned into stone.

"What the hell?" Hunter-nin asked. Istead of giving him reply, Naruto ran through handseals.

"**Doton: doohari!**" Stone spikes rose from the bridge, crashing most of ice mirrors and breaking the jutsu, so the rest disappeared on their own. Naruto made spikes disappear and then walked up to the hunter-nin, now lying on the ground with stab wound on his left shoulder. "I know, you could end my or my teammate's shinobi careers or even kill us easily, why just immobilize?" Even through mask Naruto saw his shock.

"I... Don't like killing."

"Then why are you with Zabuza?"

"He is my master and the only reason I'm still alive." Hunter-nin answered. "He is my precious person."

"You?.."

"**Katon: Goukakyuu!**" Naruto was able to jump out of the way of fireball. Haku wasn't that lucky. And now there was only his smoking corpse. Naruto turned to Sasuke only to see darkhaired boy laughing maniacally. "You saw that? You saw that, dear brother? One day I'll do same thing to you!"

* * *

Somewhere else on the bridge, Kakashi was finally able to immobilize Zabuza with the helf of nin-dogs.

"And now, Zabuza, this is your end. **Raikiri!**" Lightning started in Konoha's shinobi left arm. When jutsu was ready, Kakashi lauched himself forward, intent to pierce Kiri missing-nin's heart. Suddenly both of them saw explosion of fire where Sasuke and Haku should be fighting. Kakashi just slowed a bit, while Zabuza, hit by the loss of his weapon... comrade... no, son, jerked and freed his sword and threw it at summoning scroll Kakashi left unguarded. And raikiri instead of killing him just severed his left arm. Dogs that held Zabuza disappeared in the puffs of smoke. Suddenly they heard applause.

"Kakashi, Kakashi, I must thank you and your brats for making my work easier..." It short man in glasses in front of army of thugs, who was speaking.

"Gato, what do you mean?" Zabuza asked.

"You know, you ninja are far too expensive to hire for my likes..."

"So you weren't going to pay us in the end?"

"Of course not. I was going to kill you and collect bounty on your head. And these Konoha ninjas just made first part much easier." Gato answered.

"Kakashi, looks like we aren't enemies anymore." Silver haired jounin nodded, whila Zabuza took his sword with his right, and only, hand. "I'll die anyway from blood loss... But you, Gato, are going to join me on the way to the Hell!" Kiri missing-nin launched himself forward, cutting thugs that became live shield in front of Gato into pieces... Thugs could do nothing to stop demon of the Mist and soon enough Zabuza, with several swords sticking out of his body, was in front of trembling Gato.

"You... You are real demon!" Man cried.

"The one who will torture you forever!" And Zabuza brought his sword down, cleaving Gato into two halves. Thugs were so afraid of him now, that cleared his way, when he began walking. Demon of the Mist reached Konoha jounin and fell down, unable to move anymore. "The rest is yours, Kakashi. ...I just wish I could see Haku one more time..." Those were his last words. There was silence. Then one of thugs shouted.

"Gato is dead and noone will pay us. Let's go to the village and take everything valuable!" Loud yell of agreement ran through the mass af armed men.

"Kakashi-sensei, can you help me?" Asked Naruto, who lied down unconscious Sasuke. "He is just knocked out." Blond ignored Sakura's yell 'Sasuke-sama' and summoned two dozens of stone clones. Kakashi helped his student with dozen of shadow clones. But thugs still decided to attack. Only to stop when an arrow pierced leg of one of men.

"You wanted to rob our village? How about going through us first?" One man yelled. Ninjas turned to see half of the village, armed with scythes, hammers, spades, knives, frying pans... And Inari with a crossbow in the front row.

"Yes. Go away and never return to the Wave!" Naruto ran through handseals. "**Doton: doryuudan!**" Large mud dragon rose from the bridge, and thugs began running for their lives. When everyone was safe, Naruto came up to Inari. "I see, you stopped crying. Good work, little hero!"

***

Week later bridge was finished and team seven was leaving. Whole village was seeing them home. When four shinobi became dots on the horizont, someone asked:

"How will we name the bridge?"

"What about 'Great bridge of hope'?" Another man suggested.

"Maybe 'Great Naruto bridge' then?" Tazuna suggested jokingly but reaction of crowd surprised him. 'Yeah!' 'Why not?' 'He gave us hope!' 'He is the hero!' People shouted. "Then it will be 'Great Naruto bridge'! Let it bring luck and prosperity to the Wave!."

* * *

R&R!!!  
Next chapter will be slight crossover/fusion with "Tremors" film.


	6. Not a safe Waterfall

**review responce:  
OverLordRevan, I-Like-Chicken-More-Than-You, Timetravelviajutsu, FFwatchdog, god of all, Irishfighter, akatsuki-tenshi-kitsune, qwe123**, thank you!  
**Lycan91**, thank you. Lemons will be, but much later.  
**WinglessDarc**, well, I need to improve my English. I'm trying to do so, but looks like results aren't as good as I want them to be.  
**Cenright**, true, Naruto will (**SPOILER**) run from Konoha at one moment. And his own (not sage-mode or Kyuubified) skills will be also shown later.  
**BlazinHothead**, maybe you are right, but right now I don't want to rewrite first chapters...

**jutsu list:**  
**Shunshin **- (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu  
**Katon: Goukakyuu **- (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales fire from his mouth.  
**Katon: housenka** - (C-rank) Fire style: Mythical Fire Phoenix** - **this fire jutsu creates series of small fireballs. The ninja can also hurl a projectile which is covered in these same flames.  
**Fuuton: Reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - strong gust of wind sent towards his target. When acting in conjunction with another thrown weapon, the wind can increase its power and deadliness.  
**Doton: keisei** - (B-rank) Earth style: formation - jutsu of my own creation. Allows user to modify earth in a small area at his will. User need to stand on the ground to do this jutsu  
**Doton: tetsukawa** - (A-rank) Earth style: iron skin - similar to the jutsu Kakuzu showed in his battle versus ino-shika-cho trio and Kakashi. This jutsu turns users skin into iron, thus making him almost invinchible. Drawback is enormous chakra cost.  
**(Raiton) Chidori** - (A-rank) (Lightning style) Thousand birds - this is an assasination jutsu utilizing lightning element, using which one can cut almost through anything. Due to the high speed of attack, the jutsu emits a sound like a thousand birds chirping which gave the technique its name. Because of the great amount of chakra needed to utilize the technique, the technique can only be used so many times during the day. Downside of this jutsu is that while user is attacking, he has troubles with dodging enemy's counterattack because of his tunnel vision. So this jutsu is most effective to kill immobilized opponent.  
**(Raiton) Raikiri** - (S-rank) (Lightning style) Lightning edge - stronger version of **chidori**

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'_  
**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power / jutsus / Iruka's 'demon head' speaking"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'_**

**_AN:  
* _**This chapter contains elements from "Tremors" (I DO NOT own these films too...) and is almost filler. It was needed only to introduce Fuu...  
* (**SPOILER**) Side pairings will be: onesided Fuu/Naruto, onesided OC/Naruto and Fuu/Deidara  
* Though it was shown that Shichibi is rhinoceros, in this story this bijuu will be badger.

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 4: Not a safe Waterfall**

Two figures in dark blue cloaks with hoods were walking through night misty forest. One of the figures had big backpack with him. Both figures stopped when ninja patrol run in about hundred meters from of them. Luckily for figures, they weren't seen, so they continued walking towards their destination... Several minutes later they stopped at the muddy bank of the river.

"This place is good." Said figure with backpack, moon light reflected from his round glasses. "Stay on guard while I execute the plan."

"Hai." Second figure nodded, summoning two white blades from his sleeves. First figure put his backpack on the ground and opened it, revealing four big brown eggs. He did three handseals and mud on the bank moved, creating something like a nest.

"Good..." Man in glasses moved all eggs into newly made 'nest'. "Grow strong, weapons of my master. Bring your wrath upon our enemies."

"Looks like we have guests." Said figure with blades.

"Hm... It's not even bad right now... Kill them, leave their bodies there and catch up with me." Glasses wearing man said. "Our little friends with hatch soon. They'll need food."

"As you wish." Blade wielder readied himself for a short battle with patrol ninjas, as his companion escaped the area via shunshin.

*******

It was whole week since team seven returned from their A-ranked mission in the Wave country. After three days of rest, team began taking missions again. Simple D-ranks, as both genins and their sensei were afraid to take another C-rank mission right now - who knows, maybe they will run into another very strong missing-nin, who will try to kill them? But thing usually don't go the way you want...

"Kakashi, I'm sorry, but right now we don't have any other teams in the village for this mission." Old Hokage spoke. "I need you to deliver message scroll to the Hidden Waterfall. This will be C-rank mission." Silverhaired jounin nodded and took scroll Hokage gave him.

"I understand and will comply to your orders even if I don't like them. Team, get ready for a week long C-rank mission. We are leaving in four hours." Genins too weren't very happy with this mission, but could do nothing as this was Hokage's order, so, after they were dismissed from briefing, they went to their homes to pack for the mission.

* * *

Team seven was already traveling three days and now were close Hidden Waterfall. It was said that this was the most hidden ninja village... Well, now second after reformed Hidden Sound, so if there will be no one to guide them, they might spent several extra hours, trying to find gates of Takigakura no Sato...

Luckily for them, after they took another turn on the road, they saw single shinobi with Taki hitae-ate waiting for them. That shinobi was a tomboy looking girl of around fifteen-sixteen years old. She had tan skin, short tealish-green hair with red flower in them over her right ear and red eyes. Girl was wearing white top, white arm warmers, short white mini-skirt with just a little longer chainmail shorts under it and dark gray shinobi sandals. Her hitae-ate was placed just above her right elbow and she had red backpack with 'X'-forming straps that somehow accentuated her not so small breasts.

**_ 'Can you feel him too, Naru-chan?'_** Blond shinobi heard his 'nee-tyan' asking him.

_'Yes. But I can't say which one...'_ Naruto replied with his thoughts.

**_'Shichibi no Kaku.'_** He nodded. **_'And there is something else in this area, but I don't understand what is it right now.'_**

_ 'OK, I'll be cautious.'_ Waterfall kunoichi looked at each of team seven members, her eyes staying on Kakashi and, especially, on Naruto for much longer time than on Sasuke or Sakura. Finally she spoke.

"Good afternoon." Taki jounin bowed a little. "I'm Fuu, special jounin of Takigakura no Sato. I assume, you have a message from Sandaime Hokage-sama?" Kakashi nodded. "Nice to meet you, Hatake-san, and you students, by the way." Three genins under said silverhaired jounin bowed their heads to Fuu while their team leader introduced them. "Follow me, I'll lead you into the village."

* * *

Hidden Waterfall village, as its name suggested, was located in the enormous cave behind waterfall and because of that had good natural defenses. Cave itself had two natural entrances: one just behind waterfall was used as a main entrance to the village while another was leading somewhere into the forests was more like used only in case of emergency. Of course, there were some more artificially made entrances to the cave, and all were heavily guarded.

After passing heavy armored gates, five ninjas found themselves in enormous, maybe half of Konoha's territory big, cave. While there were no holes for sunlight to pass into the cave, it still was almost as brightly as outside there, as light was given by big blue crystals that stick out of the cave floor, walls and ceiling here and there. Surprisingly, there were not only buildings of Hidden Waterfall village and those crystals there, there also grew bushes and even pretty big trees... Leaf shinobi were in awe as they have never seen anything like this before... They walked through well planned and organized shinobi village, though it seemed that there were more shinobi on duty than was needed when there was no war, towards the complex of buildings surrounded by the ring of walls with the only gates. They walked through those gates and crossed small square before entering biggest building, the one where village leader worked. Guards there were tensed as if they were expecting some kind of attack at any time. And of course, not only Kakashi, but team seven genins too, noticed this.

"What's going on, Fuu-san? I never heard anything about attacks on your village, why so many guards?" Silverhaired jounin asked.

"Actually, we too are not sure what is going on. Three days ago one of our patrol teams didn't return. More, their bodies were never found, just some of their blood on the grass near the river. And there also was big hole, like attack was from under the ground. Since that time we lost five more men, including two civilians inside the village. Attacker was never seen, but who ever it is, he leaves tunnels in the ground. About ninety centimeters in diameter and very very long." Fuu answered. _'And attacker doesn't feel like human, more like some kind of subterranean beast. But even with the help of Shichibi I can't find them...'_ Shinobi stopped in front of the village leader's door. Fuu told team seven to wait and entered office. She emerged from it minute later and said that only Kakashi can enter in order to deliver message, his genins had to wait. So Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke took a seat on the small sofa, while Fuu was leaning on the wall near blond jinchuuriki.

"So... Fuu-san, you too..." Finally asked Naruto, breaking almost minute long silence. Girl nodded.

"Yeah. I'm seven." She responded and looked at blond silently asking him about his tenant.

"Nine." Naruto replied.

"You two, what are you talking about?" Sakura asked, as she could not understand their conversation.

"About something we have in common." Blond jinchuuriki answered.

"Don't make me laugh, baka. You can have nothing in common with her." Sakura reached behind Sasuke's head and hit Naruto. "She is already special jounin, she is very strong, something you'll never be!" Naruto ignored his teammate, like Fuu did it.

"Yeah, Fuu, forget about that loser. You need someone from elite. Like Uchiha..." Sasuke didn't notice hurt expression Sakura's face and was about to continue, when alarm went on.

"Kisama! Not again!" Fuu almost yelled and sprinted towards the exit. Naruto jumped from the sofa and ran after her.

"What's going on? Is the village under attack?" He asked, at the same time using small mirror to look back. The rest of his team, Kakashi included, were running after them, along with unknown man of about fifty years old in spruce brown clothes, Takigakura no Sato leader, Naruto presumed.

"Yeah. Another one of those attacks from under the ground." Fuu answered.

* * *

Four minutes later six shinobi were standing in the center of small park near broken bench. There was some fresh blood and, of course, big hole in the ground. Fuu pressed both her hands to the ground and sent chakra wave. Judging by the change of her emotions, she didn't find what she was looking for.

"Again too late. Attacker is outside my range." She said.

"Let me try. Maybe I'll be able to sense them?" Naruto said.

"Baka, she is jounin. You can't be better than she is even in your dreams!!!" Sakura yelled, but was ignored by Fuu.

"How far you can sense?" Special jounin of Hidden Waterfall asked.

"...About kilometer and a half..." Blond genin answered. Fuu nodded and Naruto sat in meditative pose. After five seconds red outlining appeared around his closed eyes... Naruto entered his sage mode and began searching for anything suspicious, other than a wide network of underground tunnels. Then he found it, almost out of his range. It was creature. Relatively short and thick worm like ...something, that was moving at a good speed through one of tunnels. And Naruto didn't like this creature... He 'turned off' his sage mode and opened his eyes.

"Found something?" Fuu asked. Blond jinchuuriki nodded.

"It's worm like creature. About seven meters long and almost meter thick. It can move very fast under the ground. I'd say it can win a sprint against most genins." He paused. "I was lucky, it went out of my range a second later I sensed it... And there is network of tunnels under and around the village, created by that monster."

"Anything else?" Village leader asked.

"That monster was moving in the direction of the swamp four kilometers from here. I'd say that it might have some kind of nest there. Plus I'd say, judging by the number of tunnels, there is more than one monster." Naruto answered.

"Not good, not good..." Takigakura no Sato leader sighed. "Thank you, Naruto-san." He turned to Kakashi. "I'd like to borrow your student, Hatake-san. He is much better at sensing than any of my ninja and he will provide great help in redeeming the village. It's A-rank, bordering S-rank mission and will be paid accordingly. You and your other students may stay at the hotel or join the hunt... If he is willing to help us, of course."

"I... I will help them." Naruto finally said. Kakashi nodded.

"Sasuke, Sakura, what do you want: stay in the village or join the hunt?" Silverhaired jounin asked.

"I'll join. There is no way that the dobe is somewhere better than I am. If he can do that, I can too." Uchiha boy told his sensei, who just sighed at this.

"I... I don't want to be near those... monsters. I'll stay at the hotel." Kunoichi of team seven said.

"OK... So Fuu, Kakashi-san and two of his students will form four men cell that will try to find and, if possible, kill those beasts." Village leader said. "You can start the hunt immediately?" He asked. All four ninja nodded. "Then I'll summon other teams to provide your backup. Go." And the hunt started...

* * *

Four shinobi arrived to the small field near the swamp where, as Naruto though, worms may have their nest. Blond jinchuuriki sat on the ground and called forth his sage mode. His guess was correct and those monsters were there: Three were almost under them, seventy meters under the ground and one more was in almost kilometer from their position in the forest.

"Three ...things there. One in about kilometer at four o'clock." Naruto reported. "Is there someone with earth affinity?" He asked then.

"I have it. Why?" Fuu answered. Kakashi and Sasuke remained silent.

"Good. Fuu, you'll help me. I will need you to create hardest stone possible as the walls and the floor for the pit I'm about to create." Naruto explained. "Kakashi-sensei, try katon or raiton attacks on monsters when you see them. Sasuke-teme, use you fire techniques. I'll try my fuuton and doton jutsu arsenal against them."

"Why will I do as you say, dobe!" Sasuke said irately, his sharingan activated, while Kakashi nodded, thinking about Naruto's plan.

"Good plan, Naruto. I approve. Sasuke, you will do what he says. It's an order."

"OK..." Naruto sensed worms approaching them. "They are coming! Ready?" He put both his hands on the ground and Fuu mirrored his actions. "**Doton: keisei!**" They yelled in unison. Twenty meters deep and hundred meters wide pit with stone walls appeared with three dirty-brown creatures on the bottom. 'Worms' which immediately tried to run from this pit but weren't very successful with penetrating its walls. "Attack!" Naruto yelled.

"**Katon: goukakyuu!**" Both Kakashi and Sasuke sent fireballs at beast. Fireballs successfully hit their targets, but when fire died down, 'worms' were almost unharmed and already broke through stone walls, even enforced by Fuu's chakra - ninja's saw only their tails.

"Shit!" Taki special jounin hissed.

"These creatures have no eyes, means they use other senses to move around and attack. Hearing or smelling most probably, or they can sense heat." Silverhaired jounin noted. "Also, they have very hard 'beak' and their muscles are very strong, if that thing catches you, it won't be pretty."

"Jump!" Naruto yelled. "They are attacking!" All four ninja jumped into the air. They saw 'worms' appear where they stood second ago. One of the beasts opened its mouth, which apparently had three jaws with teeth-like spikes, and send three thick snake-like tongues after Kakashi. Naruto used this to send two kunai into it's mouth: one with explosive tag, other with unfamiliar seal... Creature's 'tongues' surprisingly had their own mouths and tried to bite Kakashi's leg, but jounin cut them with chidori, spraying yellowish-orange stinky liquid, before they could harm him. No one saw smile on Sasuke's face as he copied the jutsu... 'Worm' howled from pain, but before it could hide under the ground, Naruto activated seals. Monster trashed in agony as his internals were ripped by vacuum seal. And then was torn into pieces by explosive tag, covering the ground with its blood and flesh. Naruto felt his sage powers leave him. But even his normal sense range, three hundred meters, would be enough for now...

"One down, three to go. Good work, Naruto." Fuu congratulated, landing on the ground. But next moment her face changed into the one of pure fear. She flashed through handseals. "**Doton: tetsukawa!**" Her skin turned rusty gray and became very hard. Luckily, she finished her jutsu just in time as next moment 'worm' tried to swallow her, but she managed to keep its mouth from closing. "Help... me..."

"**Raikiri!**" Lightning started in Kakashi's hand. Silverhaired jounin used his jutsu to cut one jaw and free Fuu.

"**Doton: keisei!**" Naruto created several sharp spike that pierced surprisingly thick skin of monster, but it managed to run under the ground, even if wounded. "Shit, those things run underground. And forth is coming there. Looks like Kakashi-sensei was right, they rely on hearing very much." Four more Waterfall shinobi, jounin and three chuunin, jumped into the battlefield.

"Fuu, report." Jounin commanded.

"One monster killed, one wounded, two remain unharmed. Four in total in this area." Girl answered.

"They are coming back! Jump!" Naruto yelled. But new arrivals couldn't react in time and one of them, chuunin, was swallowed; jounin wasn't lucky too: 'Worm' bit off his lower body and man would die from blood loss in less than one minute... Blond jinchuuriki sent wind-chakra sickle-shaped blade at beasts, but it left only inch deep wounds on them. Creatures again hid under the ground. Suddenly jawless 'worm' tried to attack Sasuke, but with the help of his sharingan Uchiha boy could react in time.

"**Katon: housenka!**" Group of small fireballs hit monster's mouth and gullet, while Sasuke tried to sidestep. He, actually, partially succeeded and trashing from pain beast only broke his arm before burrowing again.

"Sasuke, you are wounded, leave." Kakashi said. Seeing that said boy didn't want to do so, silverhaired jounin used his power of team leader and ordered him to leave. Sasuke, was forced to comply...

"Jump!" Naruto yelled again. All six ninjas that were alive jumped from the ground, when jawless monster appeared again. Taki chuunin weren't ready to defend themselves from beast's tongues and were caught. Suddenly two other 'worms' jumped from under the ground and swallowed poor chuunins; none of the attacks that other four shinobi used didn't help freeing caught ninjas. The best that they could do now - send as much explosive tags as possible into the mouth of jawless 'worm'. Beast burrowed under the ground and then there was an explosion.

"Two down, two to go... And we already lost four men in this battle..." Fuu said sadly.

"Looks like these monsters can attack in groups... We must be twice as cautious then." Kakashi noted. "Where are they?" He asked then.

"Two that are alive are regrouping and will attack soon." Blond jinchuuriki answered. Three shinobi left used this small pause to find any ideas how to deal with these monsters. So far none of the attacks that hit them from outside wasn't effective. These 'worms' were real monsters... "They are coming!" Naruto warned. They jumped away from their position, as two beasts attacked.

"**Doton: keisei!**" Both Naruto and Fuu yelled, catching one of 'worms' in the stone prison.

"**Raikiri!**" Kakashi plunged lightning blade through creature's skin. Then he took off his hand and pushed ball of explosive tags into the wound. After jumping back, silverhaired jounin activated tags, and beast exploded, covering everything around with its disgusting blood and flesh.

"Shit!" Fuu yelled as she sensed attack that Naruto couldn't dodge: last 'worm' jumped from under the ground and swallowed blond jinchuuriki. But before it could burrow completely, it's body spasmed and then was cut into two. But no one saw what cut it, only Naruto sealing something on his left wrist.

"**Fuuton: repushou!**" Blond yelled, sending attack into beast's belly and killing it... He looked awful: his clothes were torn into shreds, there were many bite marks on his body and he was covered in thick stinky yellowish-blown blood of the monster. "I'd give anything for a lo-o-o-ong hot shower right now..." He sighed.

* * *

Three kilometers from the battlefield man in dark-blue cloak with hood was sitting on the tree, watching battle through his binoculars. When the battle ended, he sighed and adjusted his round glasses.

"Our little friends were killed, what a pity... My lord won't be happy with this... After all, they were his favorite experiment in biology..." He jumped on the ground. "Well, anyway, I have to report him the results..."

***

Three days later team seven was leaving once again peaceful Hidden Waterfall: those four beast were the only ones... Sasuke's arm was healed, but Sakura still acted like he was disabled, which irritated Uchiha boy greatly. Village leader and several Taki shinobi, including Fuu, were seeing team seven home. Kakashi received S-rank mission payment for his and his team's help in saving the village. Leaf ninjas bid farewell and headed home. Suddenly Fuu ran after them and hugged Naruto from behind and whispered in his ear:

"Be safe, blondie, I'd like to work with you again." And she kissed him on the cheek, which made Kakashi giggle perversely and Sakura irately groaned. Sasuke showed no reaction...

* * *

R&R!!!

oh, _**"Konoha's young sage"**_ has 23800 hits, 113 reviews, 180 favourites and 268 alerts! Thank you for reading my story!

* * *

_**"Two"**_ will be updated (most probably) next friday evening (by GMT+4)  
Also, I got a lot of reviews saying that I need to write sequel/second chapter for _**"Hot politics"**_. I'll try to think of something.


	7. Chuunin exams: writing test

Hello everyone, I'm back!!!

**review responce:  
Thousand Tailed Holy FlashFang**, **GatorLHA2**, **RavenNightwish**, **Irishfighter**, **call sign FireFly**, **Cenright**, **T3Ko**, **god of all**, **Valter666**, **tedlay**, **joseph33759**, **Disciple2**, **Yashiru1**, **Narutohina56**, **eclipseX**, **nirvana12**, thanks!  
**Lu Ling Qi**, yes, English isn't my native language, but I'm trying my best to write a good story...  
**Shadan**, Sasuke doesn't know his second affinity (first one is fire, 'cause he is Uchiha) and thus copies any jutsu he can.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, you'll see Fuu in action once again pretty soon. (sorry, but no spoilers!)  
**honorablemerc**, didn't I say that before the last (6th by filter) chapter in AN? But yes, that chapter had elements from _**"Tremors"**_. As a small spoiler, there will be chapter with elements from _**"****Unreal"**_ shooter (does anybody remember this PC game?)  
**King of the DamnD**, I wish I could...  
**Soulblazer87**, you're right, I didn't notice that. But I'm too lazy to fix that right now...  
**call015**, sorry, but you are too late... This is Naruto/Yugito (and Fuu/Deidara... but it may change into Yugito⇔Naruto⇔Fuu⇔Deidara, though... *winks*)

**jutsu list:**  
**Shunshin **- (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu  
**Katon: Goukakyuu **- (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales fire from his mouth.  
**(Raiton) Raikiri** - (S-rank) (Lightning style) Lighning edge - this is an assasination jutsu utilizing lightning element, using which one can cut almost through anything. Due to the high speed of attack, the jutsu emits a sound like a thousand birds chirping. Because of the great amount of chakra needed to utilize the technique, the technique can only be used so many times during the day. Downside of this jutsu is that while user is attacking, he has troubles with dodging enemy's counterattack because of his tunnel vision. So this jutsu is most effective to kill immobilized opponent.  
**Fuuka Houin** - (B-rank) Fire sealing method - Fuuka Houin is a Fuyunjutsu technique that allows the ninja to seal away a nearby fire. After unrolling a scroll to hold the fire, the ninja writes the needed sealing incantation onto the scroll. Then by forming the needed handseals, a vapor will emanate from the scroll to encompass the fire and take it back to the scroll for sealing.  
**Fuuka Houin: kai** - (B-rank) Fire sealing method: release - I'm not sure if such technique exists in canon Naruto universe... Anyway... After performing needed handseals, ninja can release fire, sealed by **Fuuka Houin**, from the scroll and use it agaist his enemies.  
**Hari Jizou** - (B-rank) Underworld guardian spikes - this is a Ninjutsu technique used by Jiraiya. After forming the needed hand seals, Jiraiya's hair will grow in length to surround and protect his body. In this form it also becomes ridged and spiked, forming a layer of protectiong from direct strikes and blows.  
**Kage shuriken** - (D-rank) Shadow shuriken - Kage Shuriken no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing a giant Fuuma Shuriken. When throwing the shuriken, the ninja will also throw a second giant shuriken to hide in the shadow of the first. The hidden secondary shuriken can then approach the target without their being aware.  
**Suiton: syiryuudan** - (B-rank) Water style: water dragon projectile - this is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Water Element. The ninja does a long string of hand seals which then causes a column of water in the form of a dragon to rise from the water and then strike their target.  
**Kuchiyose **- (A-rank) Summoning - this is a time-space ninjutsu that allowes user to summon an animal to his location. User needs to sign contact with a clan of animals to be able to summon them. Also, user needs to sacrifice small amount of his blood to perform summoning. Sometimes, user needs to pay the animal he summoned for the work done.

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'_  
**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power / jutsus"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'_**

**_AN: _**Well, chuunin exams, Yay!!!

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 5: chuunin exams: writing test**

"So, Naruto-kun... How is Sasuke doing so far?" Asked Sandaime Hokage. He finally managed to find sometime to ask Naruto about how his long-term mission was going on. Blond jinchuuriki thought for several seconds, before answering.

"He seems to be too obsessed with fighting strong opponents, humans or not, till they are either dead or admit his superiority. During mission to the Wave country, he killed Haku, though the boy was no danger to him or anybody else anymore." Naruto paused for a second. "During our fight with those monsters that attacked Takigakura, he almost went against Kakashi's order and continued fighting, despite being wounded."

"Hm... It's not very good..." Sarutobi said. "How about his teamwork? I know that Kakashi-san stresses on it greatly."

"From what I observed, Sasuke will help his teammates only if it is somehow beneficial for him. Otherwise, his teamwork is equal to zero."

"I see..." Hokage sighed. "I hoped that placing him on a team will help him to grow into what true shinobi must be, but looks like we may have second Orochimaru coming. I don't think that we should act now, maybe there is still a chance that he will turn out to be good boy, but we'll need to observe him closer from now on... You will continue your mission without any changes for now, Naruto-kun. And thank you for your work."

"Hai, Hokage-jiji. I shall do what is in my powers to protect what my father gave his life for." Naruto replied.

"It's nice to hear that." Hiruzen said. "By the way, I was given some information about who blew your cover and made your connection with Kyuubi wide known. Looks like old war hawk Danzo have a hand in this. He, I think, wants to turn you into his personal weapon. Don't worry though, I will do whatever is in my power to protect you from this fate... Right now I don't have enough information to have a solid proof that Danzo exposed you, but my ANBU are looking for more right now."

"Thank you, Hokage-jiji." Blond jinchuuriki said. "I assume, that this will be all?" Hokage nodded.

"Yes, you can go now. Dismissed." Naruto nodded and left old man's office. Sarutobi looked at twilight Konoha through the window and sighed, lighting his pipe. "I'm too old for all this..."

*******

Next morning three genins of team seven were waiting for their sensei to appear. Sasuke was brooding under a tree about how he will kill Itachi. Sakura was thinking about some new ways go make last Uchiha go on a date with her. And Naruto was sitting, using bridge's handrail as a backrest, and he was writing something on a rectangular pieces of paper... Sasuke lifted his gaze in hope that Kakashi will appear. No such luck. But instead he saw what his blond teammate was doing and it interested him. When he saw what exactly Naruto was 'drawing', Uchiha boy was a bit shocked.

"You know how to do explosive tags, dobe?! Who taught you this? Answer me!" Naruto looked up at Sasuke.

"Why should I?" He immediately regretted saying this...

"HOW DARE YOU?! SASUKE-SAMA ASKED YOU A QUESTION AND YOU MUST ANSWER!!!" Pink-haired ...banshee yelled. Deciding that he wont survive another yell today, blond genin finally answered Sasuke's question.

"OK, OK..." Naruto sighed. "Jiraya-sensei gave me several scroll about fuyunjutsu when I was younger. And when he had time, he showed me several seals..."

"Jiraya? That Jiraya? Jiraya of the sannin?" Asked Sasuke, a bit surprised. Naruto only nodded. This made brooding Uchiha explode. "Why would one of the sannin spend his time with the dobe like you? He must have being training someone form elite. Me!" Naruto saw sannin in question approach the bridge where team seven was and decided to play a prank on Sasuke. He inserted his index finger in his ear like he had something in it that was hampering his hearing.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you. Can you repeat?"

"I SAID WHY WOULD JIRAYA TEACH SUCH A LOWLY EXCUSE OF..." Sasuke felt a heavy hand being placed on his shoulder. "...ninja when there is... someone from elite,.. like me..."

"So... You think that my godson is a lowly excuse of ninja?" Said a deep voice. Looking up, Sasuke saw toad sage Jiraya. And sannin didn't looked pleased. Hermit picked explosive tag that Naruto just drew and examined it. "Looks like you are already mastered intensified explosive seal. You are truly going to be master of seals."

"Teach me!" Sasuke shouted. Jiraya took thinking pose.

"You have a drive to learn, that's good... But you offended not only to my godson, but also to my student... Let's make a deal: if you can land a solid hit on me, the one that I can't block or dodge, in five minutes, I'll think about teaching you jutsu or two..." Jiraya saw shocked expression on Naruto's face and winked him, showing that he won't allow Sasuke to become his student.

"Prepare to teach me!" Uchiha boy tried to hit Jiraya, but older shinobi easily avoided being hit and jumped back, putting some distance between them. Sasuke ran towards the sannin, unleashing barrage of hits and punches, but Jiraya easily dodged all of them. Sasuke jumped back and produced windmill shuriken from his pouch. He threw the weapon at the sannin.

"Hm... **Kage shuriken**? Impressive." Jiraya's hair moved, seemingly, on their own, forming something like a spiked wall in front of him, effectively blocking both shurikens from. "But it won't work against my **Hari Jizou**." Sannin said as his hair returned to their normal shape. Sasuke roared and flashed through handseals.

"**Katon: goukakyuu**!" He launched big fireball at Jiraya, who lazily unrolled small scroll, that somehow appeared in his hands. Scroll already contained pretty complex seal drawn.

"**Fuuka Houin**!" Toad hermit sent his chakra to activate the seal. Ghosty vapor appeared from the seal and after encompassing the fire of Sasuke's jutsu, returned back. Without waiting, Jiraya flashed through four handseals. "**Fuuka Houin: kai**!" Sealed fireball shot back at Sasuke from the scroll.

"**Suiton: Suiryuudan**!" Last Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf summoned small water dragon from the nearby river, the one that was running under their meeting-spot-bridge. Water dragon looked weak and was barely seven meters long, yet it was enough to stop fireball. "Why I can't do this jutsu like Kakashi or Zabuza? Why mine is so small and weak?!" Yelled frustrated Sasuke.

"Maybe you just don't have water affinity?" Said Jiraya. "Look, each ninja has one-two rarely three affinities, elements that best suited for them. Some jutsus won't work if you don't have needed affinity, others will be much weaker. Kakashi-san is unique case: he has weak affinities for every element. But he can't use any elemental jutsu to its fullest power. Not even his prized **raikiri**." Sannin paused. "By the way, you have one minute left." Sasuke roared and once again ran towards older shinobi, intent to land a hit on him using every taijutsu combo he knew. But, of course, it didn't work, as toad hermit dodged all hits and punches without any problems... Sasuke was about to try to hit sannin again, but Jiraya simply dropped from his sight, even with his two-tomoe'd sharingan activated, only to reappear behind him moment later and place something on his back. "Time's up." Older ninja said and activated weak shock seal he just placed on Sasuke's back.

"You were toying with me! I demand rematch and you will fight seriously this time!" Shouted Uchiha.

"Don't overestimate yourself." Jiraya replied. "If I fought seriously with you, you'd be dead three seconds into the fight." Sannin walked towards Naruto and produced small scroll seemingly out of nowhere. "And seeing that you failed to land a hit on me, I won't teach you anything... Naruto, this is scroll with advanced seals you asked me to give you." Naruto nodded.

"Thank you, Jiraya-sensei." Naruto pocketed the scroll.

"OK, good. Sorry but I have to go now. My research is waiting!" And toad sage Jiraya shunshinned away.

*******

"The Kurenai led team eight, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, under the name of Yuhi Kurenai, I nominate them to take chuunin selection exam" Said red-eyed female jounin. Sandaime Hokage nodded.

"OK, Anybody else want to nominate genin team to take the exam?" He asked. "Oh, by the way, is Kakashi-san late again?"

"Sorry, I got on the road of life. Am I late?" Said familiar voice of silver-haired jounin.

"No, no, you're just on time." Asuma said sarcastically. Kakashi seemed to ignore man's voice's tone.

"Good. The Kakashi led team seven, Uchiha Sasuka, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, under the name of Hatake Kakashi, I nominate them to take chuunin selection exam." Sarutobi nodded.

"I take that this is all?" Everybody nodded and Hokage proceeded to fill the chuunin exam application forms for team seven with genins' names. When this was finished, his assistants gave filled application forms to genins' jounin senseis. "Good. Everyone dismissed." Sandaime said, when every last one of jounins that nominated their team received application forms for their students.

*******

Naruto finished three more explosive tags, before Kakashi decided to grace his team with his presence.

"Yo!" Said masked jounin, appearing in a swirl of wind and leaves.

"YOU ARE LATE, KAKASHI-SENSEI!!!" Sakura yelled.

"Lost on the road of life?" Asked Naruto, eyeing his sensei.

"Actually..." Silver-haired jounin produced three papers from his pouch. "I nominated you three to take chuunin selection exam. These are application forms. I you want to take part in the exam, fill the form and bring it to the academy, room 301 on next monday before nine in the morning." Kakashi gave application forms to his students. "OK, this is all for today. Bye, bye." And he disappeared via shunshin. Naruto looked at his application form.

_'What do you think, nee-tyan, should I take this exam? I know that I'm fairly strong, but who knows, what can happen during the exam... But still, I want to be promoted: I don't want to do this stupid D-rank chores.'_ He thought.

**_ 'I think that you should try.'_** Kyuubi responded from her part of boy's subconscious. Her Jinchuuriki nodded.

* * *

Naruto was aimlessly walking through the street of Konoha. He already filled his chuunin exam application in and with no mission or team training he hadn't many things to do. Of, course, he always could go train on his own, but right now blond jinchuuriki didn't feel like doing so. Suddenly, an idea stroke him. He walked towards the nearest park and found secluded area. He fished out an empty message scroll for his pouch and quickly wrote a message to Yugito, saying that he will take chuunin exams. When Naruto finished writing, he bit his thumb and flashed through handseals.

"**Kuchiyose**!" In a cloud of white smoke small orange toad appeared. "Hi, -Kichi!" Toad nodded.

"Hello, Naruto-kun. What do'ya want?" Gamakichi asked.

"Well, I have a work for you." Toad jumped on Naruto's head.

"Do'ya have something for me?" Blond jinchuuriki searched his pockets for something. When his hand returned from its trip through blond's pockets, it had plenty of toffees in it. Moment later every last candy was in Gamakichi's mouth. "OK, who must I do?" Naruto gave message scroll to the toad.

"I want you to deliver this message to Kumo jounin Nii Yugito. She is my friend." Blond boy quickly described the toad what Nibi jinchuuriki looked like. "Will you do this?"

"No problems!" And toad leaped away. Naruto shook his head and walked out of the park... And ran straight into Konohamaru and two his friend, Moegi and Udon.

"Oh, hi, boss!" Hokage's grandson shouted. "Can you teach us some awesome jutsus? ple-e-e-ease!" Naruto sighed. Well, at least this will give him something to do for the next hour or two...

* * *

Finally three kids got tired and Naruto, who still had nothing to do, decided to walk them home. Naruto was walking slowly behind children and for a moment lost them from his sight, when self-proclaimed 'Konohamaru corps.' disappeared behind the corner of a building.

"Ah! Let me down!" Konohamaru cried. Naruto quickly ran there and saw a boy of about fourteen-fifteen years old in a black clothes with something in bandages on his back and a make-up -er... war paint on his face siezing Hokage's grandson by the scruff of the neck. Oh, and the black-clad boy had Suna hitae-ate...

"Listen here, brat. You bumped into me. I shall teach you a lesson..." Suna ninja said. His teammate, as Naruto assumed, blond girl with a battle fan strapped to her back while obviously disapproving his actions did nothing to stop him.

"I suggest that you put this boy down. While our villages are allies, if you harm Hokage's grandson it can start unnecessary conflict." Naruto said, reading himself to rescue Konohamaru, if needed.

"But this brat..." Black-clad Suna ninja started. "...He bumped into me. He needs a lesson."

"Even if it was like that, the problem could be solved with just word." Naruto replied.

**_'Someone of the nine is near...'_** Kyuubi said to her container though mental link... **_'Ichibi no Shukaku, that crazy tanuki...'_** Moment later red haired boy with a kanji for love on his forehead and big gourd on his back appeared in swirl of the sand. Naruto looked at him. The boy had lifeless teal eyes with dark circles around them. **_'Looks like his seal isn't working properly. This boy has chronic insomnia - this is the reason for those circles around his eyes. Most probably he can't sleep because if his conscious weakens, so does the seal and Shukaku starts destroying his host's soul. This boy's seal was either done by someone with poor knowledge on the subject... or it was done this way on purpose.'_**

_'Why would someone do this on purpose?'_ Naruto asked, shocked by what his 'nee-tyan' said.

**_'This boy doesn't sleep. This makes his psyche very unstable, turning him into war machine that knows no mercy.'_** Kyuubi replied.

"Kankuro, you are disgrace to Suna shinobi." Shukaku host said. Kankuro immediately let Konohamaru go, and Hokage's grandson immediately ran and hid behind Naruto. "I left you for only five minutes and you already picked a fight. You already forgot why we came here?"

"Ga-a-aara... They started it..." Boy, now known as Kankuro, said in a shaky voice.

"I don't care. Next time I'll kill you." Gaara said in a tone like he was talking about the weather. Kankuro paled.

"Y-yes." Ichibi jinchuuriki turned to Naruto.

"I'm sorry for any trouble my brainless teammate caused." Blond Konoha genin nodded.

"I assume that you are here to take a part in chuunin exams." Gaara nodded.

"Mother tells me that you are pretty strong. What is your name? I wish to fight you." Naruto heard Kankuro whispering to his fan-armed teammate something like 'this boy is dead', but ignored it.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"Sabaku no Gaara." Gaara turned around and began walking away. "Temari, Kankuro, let's go... And, Naruto... I will crush you in this exam." And then all three Suna genins disappeared. Naruto sighed, this Gaara was really dangerous.

"Boss, you are the best!" Oh, yes, these three little brats were still there...

*******

Naruto was walking towards academy, for the hundredth time re-reading the message he got yesterday from Yugito. Two simple words. 'Good luck'... Finally he saw the building where academy resided. It was only five minutes past eight, yet both Sasuke and Sakura were there. Along with many other genins from various hidden villages.

"Let's go." Naruto said to his teammates, replacing Yugito's message in his hands with chuunin exam application... They entered the building and went upstairs. On the second floor there were a lot people, trying to enter 'room 301' which was 'guarded' by two leaf ninja. Naruto shrugged and went up the stairs.

"Naruto-baka, where are you going?" Sakura asked. "Isn't room 301 there?" Blond jinchuuriki leaned forward and whispered so that only Sakura could hear him.

"This is the second floor. How in the hell room 301 can be there? It always was on the third floor." Pink-haired kunoichi looked at the sign and saw small ripples on it, indicating that genjutsu was placed there.

"On the second thought, you are right. But Sasuke-sama is still the best..."

"You should remove this illusion! I'm going to the third floor." Sasuke shouted. Naruto slapped his forehead.

"Idiot."

"So, you noticed it?" One of 'guardians' asked. Sasuke only smirked in response. Immediately, another team from the Hidden Leaf - male Hyuuga, girl with two buns, and green-clan boy with bushy brows - surrounded Sasuke.

"What's your name?" Hyuuga boy asked.

"When you want to learn someone's name, shouldn't you give yours first?" Last Uchiha of Konoha replied... While those two argued, Hyuuga's green-clad teammate appeared in front of Sakura in the 'good guy pose'.

"LET'S GO OUT TOGETHER!!! I'LL PROTECT YOU, YOUTHFUL BEAUTY, TILL I DIE, YOSH!!!" Boy shouted. Sakura sweat-dropped.

"No way... You are lame..." Green-clad genin run away in tears... Naruto coughed.

"Sakura, Sasuke, let's go. We don't have all day, you know." They agreed.

Several minutes later, when team seven was crossing big hall, green-clad genin that they met before jumped in front of them. He pointed at Sasuke.

"I AM YOUTHFULL NOBLE GREEN BEAST ROCK LEE!!! AND I WANT TO FIGHT YOU, UCHIHA SASUKE!!! I WANT TO FIGHT SOMEONE FROM GENIUS CLAN AND TEST MY YOUTHFUL ABILITIES, YOSH!!!" Rock Lee shouted.

"If you are not interested in me, let me pass then." Naruto said, walking towards the door on the other side of the hall. Rock Lee nodded, showing that he won't stop him. Sakura wanted to follow Naruto, just to as far from this ...strange boy as she could, but decided to stay and see what her Sasuke-sama can do against him...

* * *

"It's about the time for you two to show up." Kakashi said, while, of course, reading his precious Icha-icha book. Naruto, quiet bored, stood by his side. Silver-haired jounin at his students. Sakura had a big bump on her head. Sasuke had both his chin and his ego bruised. "Now you three can properly take the exam." Before Sakura could interrupt him, jounin continued. "This exam can only be taken by teams of three. I made it look like you can choose whether you want to take it or not so that you will pressurize each other into taking the exam. You must have came here by your own free will. And seeing that you three are here, I can only do thing..." Kakashi paused for a second. "Wish you a good luck."

"Thank you, sensei." Naruto said. "Let's go!" And they opened the door into room 301...

...They were greeted by many shinobi from almost every known shinobi village. Naruto stood leaning on the wall while the rest of 'rookie nine' were talking to each other. No, he, of course, Naruto had several friend among them, but he just didn't feel like talking right now... it continued until one of older generation genins, Kabuto Yakushi, said that they need to be quiet. He, by unknown reason, decided to help and gave some information about exam participants. Naruto listened carefully about Gaara of the desert. Even if he didn't seem to be that tough from the profile, you can never be too cautious around jinchuuriki, unstable one especially. Then, because Kabuto called Hidden Sound minor village, genins from said village attacked him. And while Kabuto dodged the attack, he somehow still got hurt. Not a moment later than this happened...

"QUIET DOWN, YOU, WORTHLESS BASTARDS!" Someone roared from the big cloud of smoke that appeared in front of the blackboard. When the smoke cleared, there stood big man in a black cloak and black bandana. He had terrible scars on his face. Around his stood two dozens of chuunins in gray outfits. "Thanks for waiting. I'm Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the chuunin selection exam's first test." Ibiki pointed at Hidden Sound team. "Hidden Sound guys, stop doing as you please before the exam. Do you want to fail already?" Three genins apologizes, saying that they were 'a bit carried away'. "OK, it's a good opportunity to say this: there will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. And even if permission is granted, killing your opponent won't be tolerated. Those pigs that will disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?" Ibiki roared, sending small wave of killing intent through the auditory. All genins quickly nodded. "Good. We will now start the first test in the chuunin exam. Instead of your current seating arrangements..." Ibiki showed small piece of paper with a number to genins. "...You will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. If it somehow happens that you pick a seat near you teammate, you will have to try again. When this is done, we will hand out the exams." Naruto happened to be the unluckiest one: he was assigned the sit right in front of where Ibiki stood. When everyone sat on their assigned seats, chuunins gave them exam papers.

"OK, everyone have an exam paper?" One of chuunins asked. When everyone said or otherwise gave positive answer, he nodded to Ibiki.

"There are many important rules to this test. I'll write it on the board while I explain, but questions will not be allowed, so listen carefully." Morino Ibiki began writing on the blackboard. "The first rule. You guys will all start with ten points. The is made up of ten questions and each one is worth a point, but the test uses a subtraction system. Basically, if you can answer all ten question correctly, you keep your ten points, but if, let's say, you answer only seven correctly, you will lose three points and will have seven." He paused. "The second rule... This is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your teammates. So, each team will compete to see how many points they can hold on to from initial team total of thirty." At this point Sakura tried to ask a question about 'why this is a team test', but was quickly shut up, never receiving the answer she wanted. "The third rule is that during the exam anyone caught by the testing officers doing sneaky activities, namely cheating, will have two points subtracted for every offence. So there will be some who will lose all their points and asked to leave..."

"We have our eyes on you, guys." One of chuunin examiners said.

"Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to achieve the level of chuunin, be proud ninjas." Ibiki paused again. "And the final rule. Those that lose all their initial points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly will be failed. Along with their two teammates."

_ 'We are doomed!..'_ Almost every genin it the auditory had this thought.

"Exam will last exactly one hour. BEGIN!!!" Ibiki roared. Naruto looked at his paper. Questions there were very hard. Hell, not every jounin could answer all nine of them correctly. Then blond jinchuuriki thought about the rules.

_ 'Something doesn't add up here...'_ Reaching for his sage mode, but not activating it, Naruto counted genins in auditory. _'One hundred and fifty five. the number isn't aliquot to three... There are two extra men... They are either to watch over us... Or they are the ones that have all answers and the purpose of the test is to cheat without being caught... It's like information gathering mission... OK, judging from the rules, I think second guess is right. They want us to cheat. This means I only need to find the guy who has at least one answer correctly.'_

"Tough luck, brat?" Ibiki asked right into Naruto's ear, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Want to quit right now?" Kyuubi jinchuuriki shook his head, saying 'no'. However, Ibiki unintentionally helped Naruto. While the blond was shaking his head, he noticed that the guy on his right had already two questions done. Too fast to think that he didn't know answers beforehand... Using his 'sensor' abilities Naruto memorized what that guy wrote for the third question and then wrote the summary as his own answer. After doing the same for three more questions, Naruto thought that this was enough.

* * *

Twenty more minutes passed. During this time at least fourteen teams were failed. Naruto guess about the real purpose of this test was confirmed when he saw bun girl from before using well-hidden mirrors to copy answer from one of Ame participants... There were fifteen minutes left. This meant... Ibiki laughed in an evil manner.

"Hehehe... We've gotten rid of the trash, so we'll now start the tenth question. Now... Before we get to it, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question." Almost every genin in the auditory groaned. When Suna ninja, Kankuro returned from the toilet, Ibiki remarked about his good timing and his doll playing. Then he returned to the business. "These are the rules of desperation." Some genins visibly paled. "First, for this tenth question you must decide whether you will take it or not."

"Choose?! What happens if we decide not to answer?" Suna girl with four ponytails, Temari, asked.

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero and you, along with your teammates, fail." Many shouted that they will take this question. "And now... The other rule. If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly, not only you fail this test, but you will lose the right to ever take chuunin selection exam again." Kiba shouted that this is impossible as some people had taken chuunin exams before. Ibiki smirked. "Consider yourself unlucky. This year it's my rules. But I'm giving you a way out. Those that aren't confident enough, can choose not to take this question and try again later." Ibiki paused for a second. "Now, let's begin. Those that do not wish to take the tenth question, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave." Eleven more teams in total left the exam. Ibiki waited for a good minute. _'Seventy eight left. This year we have a lot of participants with iron will.'_ "Now to everyone still remaining..." He decided to add pause there, just torture these kids a little bit more... "I congratulate you on passing the first test!!!" He roared... For the next ten minutes Ibiki was answering various questions about the test... Suddenly something - convolute banner with someone inside - broke through the window. Four kunais were thrown, anchoring the banner.

"Meet sexy, single and deadly me, the proctor for the second test, Anko Mitarashi!" Purple-haired woman, dressed in a brown trench coat, chainmail body suit, brown mini-skirt and nothing more. "There is no time to be celebrating! Now let's go! Follow me!" Every genin in auditory groaned but complied...

* * *

_**"Pyro"**_ will be updated in three weeks. _**"Konoha's young sage"**_ - within a month. I hope I can surprise you there... *winks*

* * *

R&R!!!


	8. Chuunin exams: ruins

**Review response**:  
**Lycan91, T3Ko, Xtremo3000, lordamnesia, gaul1, Hellcleaner, Yashiru1, Elemenal Dragon Swordman, eclipseX, dimensiontimetraveler**, thanks!  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, here you go, chapter 6 (8).  
**deadw8**, no and later.  
**Orange-Fuzz-Bal**l, I will cover rasengan thing later. (_**SPOILER!**_) Yes, those monsters from Waterfall arc were created by Orochimaru. And I think final pairing will be Yugito⇔Naruto⇔Fuu⇔Deidara in the end...

**jutsu list:  
Shunshin **- (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu  
**Fuuton:**** d********aitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.  
**Fuuton: atsugai** - (B-rank) Wind style: pressure damage - This jutsu creates devasting wind blast.  
**Fuuton: Reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - strong gust of wind sent towards his target. When acting in conjunction with another thrown weapon, the wind can increase its power and deadliness.  
**Doton: doryou**** dango** - (B-rank) Earth style: mausoleum earth dumpling - This is a ninjutsu technique utilizing the Earth Element. After striking the ground with his hands, Jirobo is able to overturn the earth into a large dumpling shape chunk of earth the size of a mausoleum. Using his immense strength, he can lift up the ball and hurl it at his opponent, flatening all in its path.  
**Doton: doryou katsu **- (B-rank) Earth style: split - This is a ninjutsu technique utilizing the Earth Element. In the variation used in the chapter, user performes needed handseals and then pushes enough chakra into the rock he wants to split (e.g. **Doton: doryou**** dango** jutsu).  
******Doton: doryuu heki** - (B-rank) Earth style: wall - This is a defensive ninjutsu technique utilizing the Earth Element. The ninja will do the necessary hand seals and then spew a line of mud onto the ground. The mud will then grow into a large mud wall to help defend against incoming attack.  
**Katon: housenka** - (C-rank) Fire style: mythical fire phoenix** - **this fire jutsu creates series of small fireballs. The ninja can also hurl a projectile which is covered in these same flames.  
**Katon: Ryuuka** - (C-rank) Fire style: dragon fire - this is a ninjutsu technique utilizing the Fire Element. After binding the opponent, the ninja uses a guide wire to unleash a large torrential fire burst onto the target.  
**Gogyou fuuin** - (A-rank) Five elements seal - This is a fuuinjutsu technique. User forms an elemental seal on each of his fingers, one for each of the following five "elements": water, metal, earth, fire and wood. This seal disrupts chakra control of its target and makes jinchuuriki unable to communicate with his/her bijuu.  
**Juin jutsu** - (A-rank) Cursed seal - 'nuff said.  
**Gogyou kaiin** - (A-rank) Five elements unseal - Removes **Gogyou fuuin**.  
**Zankuha** - (D-rank) Decapitating air waves - Using air wents in Zaku's hands, this jutsu creates a massive gust of wind which he can blast at an opponent.  
**Zankyokukuuha** - (C-rank) Extreme decapitating air waves - stronger version of **Zankuha  
Katon: gouryuuka** - (B-rank) Fire style: great dragon fire - The ninja does needed handseals and then exhales powerful fireball chaped as a dragon head.  
**Doton: yomi numa** - (A-rank) Earth style: swamp of the underworld - This jutsu creates vast swamp. If someone happens to be where the swamp is created, he will sink and, if swamp is deep enough, may be killed.  
**Kiyoraka maru fuuin** - (B-rank) Clear circle seal - Fuyunjutsu I created. **Kiyoraka maru fuuin** will protect, completely or partially, ones mind from mental influences of whatever other seal it is placed around. Weakens with time, the stronger seal it protects from, the faster.  
**Doton: iwa bushin** - (B-rank) Earth style: stone clone - (credit for this jutsu goes to PalXan from _animeforum(dot)ru_) creates stone-made solid copy of user. Stone clones are physically strong and have their own mind (although very weak so are most effectively used as a 'puppets'). Stone clones are easily affected by genjutsu. They are pretty hard to destroy physically, but have limited lifetime (the more chakra they are given when created, the longer their 'life' is). To create stone clone user must be near any sourse of material for clone (stone/brick-made walls, stone blocks, stones, sandy/rocky ground etc.)

**Other**: kasa - bamboo hat (like those akatsuki members have)

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'_  
**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power / jutsus"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'_**

**_AN: _**Great thanks to _**eureka7fan**_ for beta-reading this chapter!!!

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 6: chuunin exams: ruins**

Seventy nine shinobi, twenty six genin teams and one Anko Mitarashi, stopped in front of rather big gates with all imaginable signs saying that area behind those gates was dangerous. They could see metallic fence going far in both directions with more similar gates. Behind that fence one could see young, but still intimidatingly big, forest and old ramshackle buildings or their ruins... About three dozens of chuunin proctors part of them from the first test, appeared by Anko's side.

"Well, kiddies, welcome to the ANBU training ground number forty seven, also known as ruins. Though it's not my lovely forest of death, this place is very dangerous, containing both human-made traps and many dangerous animals and plant." Anko said. "Before we start, let me tell you some history. As you all know, twelve and a half years ago mighty demon, Kyuubi no Yoko, attacked Konoha. It destroyed more that half of the village. After the demon as killed by Yondaime Hokage-sama, Sandaime Hokage-sama, who retook the seat, and council decided to turn some of devastated regions of the Konoha into the training ground. This one. This training ground is special, though, no one knows why, but plants grow there much faster and predators in the area are much stronger than anywhere."

One of the chuunins coughed. "Anko-san, I think that we should begin the test soon."

"OK, enough history. Your second test task is this." Anko produced metallic container, cylinder of about thirty centimeters long and ten in diameter and two scrolls, that could fit into the container. "There are fifty two containers hidden in this area. Not bad enough to provide challenge, but also not good enough to make you destroy entire area to find them. Each container will be guarded by D- to C-rank traps. Nothing, impossible to deal with. There are twenty six empty containers. Thirteen will contain Heaven scroll..." Anko showed blue scroll to everyone. "And thirteen will contain Earth scroll." This time she showed brown scroll. "To pass this part of the exam you will need to find both Heaven and Earth scrolls and bring them to the old hospital building in the center of this area. All your teammates must be alive and able to fight. You must not open the scrolls and you have time limit of one hundred and twenty hours to complete this test."

"Five days! What will we eat?" Choji cried.

"Hm... There is plenty of food there. You just need skills to take it." Anko paused. "And not become food in process." The proctor of the second test then took a pack of papers from one of the many chuunin and beaconed Choji to take them. "Pass these out." She told to the Akimichi boy. "Everyone!" Anko called. "You must sign these agreement forms. There will be deaths in this test and if I don't have you sign these, it will all be my responsibility." She smiled a creepy smile.

"So, I take it that killing is allowed?" Gaara of the desert asked in his usual monotone voice. Several more genins had blood-thirsty smiles on their faces.

Anko nodded. "Yes, in this part of the test, **anything goes**." She paused and then quickly added. "But, only after it starts, any more questions?"

"There are thirteen pairs of the scrolls. It means only thirteen teams will pass this test?" asked Sakura. Anko again had creepy smile.

"At most thirteen." Anko corrected "It may happen that no one will pass." The chuunin collected the signed forms. "OK. The second test will start in about half an hour, so now go and choose the gate you will start from. They are all the same, don't worry. Oh, and one more thing. There is no quitting in the middle - spend five days in the forest or die. Now, go, go, go!" Genins nodded and started walking along the fence, each team accompanied by single chuunin... Team seven stopped in front of gate number twenty four. Grass team, that picked gate number twenty three, was more than interested in them, Sasuke Uchiha in particular...

* * *

Everyone waited... Finally there was a buzzing sound.

"Well, you can start now." Chuunin said to the team seven, opening their gates. Three genins immediately ran into the forest. They stopped when they were in about two hundred meters from the gates and entered old building.

"OK, there are two possible courses of action for us. One: we can try and find needed scrolls first. Two: we can find that hospital building first and then try to take scrolls from other teams." Sasuke said.

"Actually, I think first one won't be that hard." Naruto said.

"And why is that, baka?" Sakura asked.

"These scrolls contain high-level seals. B, maybe A-ranked ones. I can sense the energy from those seals from a short distance. So we can avoid empty containers and go only after those with scrolls. But, unfortunately, seals are the same, so I can't distinguish Heaven scroll from Earth one." Blond jinchuuriki replied.

"I think that we will stick to the first plan then." Sasuke said. "But in case we get separated, we need some king of password, so that we can easily differentiate enemy spies from each other." Naruto and Sakura nodded. "I will tell the password only once. And assume everyone to be enemy, no matter what they look like until they say this password correctly" Sasuke cleared his throat. "A large amount of loud enemies is a friend of the shinobi, hide and remain silent. A shinobi must understand the proper time, when the enemy is tired and ill prepared." Both Naruto and Sakura nodded again. Suddenly there was a loud scream echoing through the training area.

"Let battle for the survival began." Blond shinobi remarked. Team seven was about to exit their temporary hideout, but large, rhino-sized, tiger was standing in their way. Naruto was the first one to react. "**Fuuton: daitoppa**!" He called, blowing predator into the tree with a strong gust of wind.

*******

Three ninja were jumping from one tree to another. Two of them had Kusa hitae-ates. Last one had none."I will go after Sasuke-kun." Said female-like looking one, with kasa on his head. "Jirobo, I want you to fight against Uzumaki kid while I'll be entertaining with Uchiha. Don't kill that boy though. Make him unable to fight for two-three days, nothing more. We need Sasuke-kun's team to pass after all." He said to a ninja with poorly done wooden mask on his face. "And don't activate second level. We don't want any ANBU interfere, do we?"

"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama." Jirobo replied.

"Good. And you, Karin, will look out for anyone who can put a crimp into my plans." Orochimaru said to the other shinobi, girl of about fifteen with red hair and no hitae-ate.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama."

*******

They were already four hours in this terrible place, but Naruto was yet to sense any hidden scrolls. In these four hours they already had to fight different predators ranging from tigers to meat-eating plants and giant centipedes ten times. Currently they were approaching yet another ruin: half-destroyed two-storey building. "There is one scroll." Naruto suddenly said. Then he summoned shadow clone to delouse any traps inside. Twelve seconds later he got memories of being stabbed by many kunai... Cautiously, team seven entered ruins. First room was clear. With his sharingan activated, Sasuke peeked into the next room. There were many kunai jabbed into the floor and walls. In the far end of the room there was cherished container with the scroll. Naruto summoned another shadow clone to retrieve the container. Clone approached metallic cylinder and took it into its hands. Only to hear hissing sound of activated explosive tag. Clone threw the container into Sasuke's hands before explosion ended its existence.

"Heaven scroll." The Uchiha boy said after he opened the container. "This means we only need to find Earth one now." Sasuke pocketed the scroll and team exited this ruins. Only to have Naruto blown away by the **Fuuton: daitoppa** jutsu, only several times more powerful than the one blond genin used on that poor tiger. Sasuke spun around and saw attacker - female-like looking grass ninja with big kusa on his head - emerge from the root of particularly big tree.

"Kukuku... How are you doing, Sasuke-kun?" Grass ninja asked, bringing his right hand's index finger to his left eye, showing amber iris with slitted pupils and unleashing killing intent that only jounin should be able to unleash...

*******

Naruto regained conscious. His head and his back were aching and he was lying under the tree with decent human-shaped dent on its trunk."You are pretty tough. Only one minute unconscious from such a blow... Looks like I'll finally be able to play with someone for long enough." Someone said. Blond jinchuuriki immediately jumped back and prepared himself to fight. His opponent was a large man, partly bald, with three big locks of orange hair on his head. He was holding pretty thick and hard wooden facial mask in his hand. Then he broke the mask with one hand without visibly straining himself at all.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked.

"You don't have to know my name." Jirobo answered, before charging at Naruto. Despite his size, he was fast! Still Naruto managed to dodge Jirobo's hit, only to stare with shock at large dent in the trunk of the tree that appeared under man's fist. Without his sage mode Naruto had to avoid being hit by this man. "**Doton: doryou dango**!" Jirobo tore up a big stone from the ground and threw it at Naruto.

"**Doton: doryou katsu**!" Naruto touched the giant boulder with one finger, sending tons of his chakra into it, and split in two with him in the middle. Unharmed. "So you are taijutsu and earth style ninjutsu user?" Blond asked. "This should have being an interesting fight, but unfortunately I have no time to fight you." Naruto flashed through handseals. "**Fuuton: atsugai**!"

"**Doton: doryou heki**!" Jirobo raised a mud wall to protect himself from wind-based ninjutsu his opponent used. Thirty seconds later, when winds finally died down, wall was almost destroyed, but there was no one behind it. Naruto immediately jumped back, barely avoiding being hit on his face. He blocked a punch man threw at him, but power behind it was big enough to send him flying into the tree. "You're good. I haven't any decent opponents for a long time. Maybe I'll play with you a little more... How about we go to the next level?" Black jagged triangular pattern appeared on man's visible skin.

"Are you working for Orochimaru?" Naruto asked. "I only heard about cursed seal. It's really an interesting thing." Jirobo roared and charged at him at least three times faster, than before. The blond jinchuuriki was still able to block the punch that was thrown at him, but it cost him a broken right arm and being sent into the next tree in line.

_'I need sage mode to match this power. Cursed seal is really powerful.'_ Naruto sent a single kunai with powerful explosive tag at Jirobo, intent to win five or so needed seconds for himself.

"Why you?!" A bit burnt, but otherwise unharmed, Jirobo charged at his opponent once again, not really noticing that Naruto's appearance changed to that of his sage mode. Jirobo tried to hit Naruto, but to his surprise, blond caught his fist with one hand - his right arm was still healing. Naruto lifted man into the air and threw him into the half of the destroyed boulder. "Why are you so strong suddenly?" Jirobo asked when he could breathe again.

"Not telling." Blond jinchuuriki answered before flashing through handseals. "**Fuuton: Reppushou**!" Giant fist made of compressed air was launched at Jirobo. But before it hit its target, man disappeared in swirl of dust. Naruto sighed. He checked his right arm. Bones weren't completely reinstated, but at least he could use this arm again. Blond genin promised himself to give a big 'thank you' to his nee-tan for healing him, before running towards location where he sensed Sasuke fighting someone very powerful.

*******

Sasuke and Sakura were hiding the wall of the destroyed building. Both were very afraid that that strange ninja will find them.

"S-Sasuke-sama... Snake!" suddenly shouted pink-haired kunoichi. Uchiha spun around only to find unnaturally big brown snake looking at him. Sasuke jumped back and threw kunai with explosive tag into snake's maw. Not waiting to see what his attack accomplished, he took Sakura and leaped up into the trees. After several seconds of peace, Sasuke saw snake returning. Some scales on its head were missing and right eye was completely destroyed, but predator was still hunting.

"**Katon: hosenka**!" He launched several shuriken, hidden in small fireballs. This attack proved to be more effective as the snake was killed. But as soon as Sasuke was sure that this snake was dead, the scales behind its head broke and the saliva-covered fake grass ninja emerged.

"Kukuku... You can't relax even for a second. Prey must always run and fight for the life. **Especially**, when a predator is near." Ninja tried to freeze genin with his killing intent, but this time it worked not that good.

"Shit!" Sasuke cursed. "Run Sakura! I'll give him our scroll." He shouted. "Please, take our scroll and let us go."

"Very clever... The only way to escape from the predator - give him something else." Mysterious shinobi said. "Unfortunately, I don't want your scroll. I'm here after you, my Sasuke-kun. Let's see what you are capable of, Sasuke-kun."

_'I... I must live! I need to kill HIM!!! I can't lose now!!!'_ Sasuke's sharingan activated. "Let's!" Uchiha produced handful of shuriken from his pouch along with some ninja wire. He threw weapons at his opponent, but fake grass ninja dodged them with little difficulty. Sasuke produced kunai with more ninja wire from his pouch and threw it too; at the same time using attached wire to control the shuriken. Before his opponent could do anything, he was tied to the tree. "**Katon: ryuuka**!" Sasuke roared, sending fire along his ninja wire, trying to burn that strange shinobi to death. Unfortunately, that ninja appeared to be fireproof. Only his skin... -er mask was destroyed.

_'He used his eyes to predict every possible way to dodge weapons and attacked from blind spot, tying me to that tree and that wonderful fire jutsu... You must be mine, Sasuke-kun. Kukuku...'_ "So young and already so good with his sharingan... Yes, this is definitely Uchiha blood. There can't be any mistake, I need you, Sasuke-kun... I liked this game, but looks like it came to the end..." Suddenly the man jumped sideways, dodging a fuuton jutsu, that came from panting Naruto. "So... You defeated my henchman? Interesting..."

"Yes, Orochimaru. He ran away. Not wanted to use second level, I think." Naruto said_. 'Shit! Even with sage mode, I used more that forty percent of chakra to fight that guy. And against Orochimaru in person, I have no chances. I have to attack and distract him, while three of us will run. At least he hadn't killed Sasuke-teme or Sakura yet.'_

"I will punish him for being useless later. But now I have business with Sasuke-kun. Kukuku..." Mysterious ninja, now identified as Orochimaru replied.

"I won't let you." Naruto threw single kunai with explosive tag at Orochimaru, before flashing through handseals. "**Fuuton: atsugai**!" There was an explosion, followed by big dome of fire, powered by wind jutsu. Blond jinchuuriki appeared by Sasuke's side, while his shadow clone by Sakura's. "We need to run. Now!"

"Sorry, but I won't let you." Orochimaru, a bit burnt, but still in good condition, appeared in front of real Naruto. "You are strong too, but unfortunately I'm not sure how you'll react to my gift, should I give it to you. So I'll do this... **Gogyou fuuin**!" Orochimaru's right hand with purple flames around each finger connected with Naruto's stomach. Blond jinchuuriki screamed in pain before his world went black. Naruto's shadow clone disappeared. "Kukuku... Back to our business, Sasuke-kun... Where was I? Oh, yes, I loved our little game. You are really his brother. I can see power to crush Itachi in your eyes."

"W-Who are you?" Sasuke asked in shock and fear.

"As Naruto-kun said, I'm Orochimaru and if you want to see me again, Sasuke-kun, you'll need to survive and complete this exam... Oh, and defeat my genin team from Oto." Snake sannin said.

"What the hell! Why would I want to see you again?" Uchiha boy shouted.

"I can give you power, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru ran through handseals. With sick sound his neck elongated and before Sasuke could do anything, sannin bit his neck. "**Juin jutsu**!" Orochimaru's neck reverted to it's normal length. "Sasuke-kun will look for me... He will look for power." At the same moment three commas appeared on Sasuke's shoulder near his neck, and he started screaming in pain, before collapsing on the tree branch unconscious. "You can keep you scroll. You'll need it. Bye, bye." Orochimaru melted into the tree. Sakura started crying in despair...

*******

Anko Mitarashi was seating under the tree, eating her favorite dango. Suddenly bolt of pain shot through her left shoulder.

_'Cursed seal? Why?' _Woman though. Before she could continue, five chuunins appeared in front of her in swirls of wind and leaves.

"Anko-san, half an hour ago three men were found dead. The genin team from Kusagakature. Their faces were 'stolen'. And there were definitely killed before the first test." One of chuunin said.

_'Yes, that's why! Orochimaru is here! That bastard! But why? Why now? What does he want to accomplish? I need to find it out. And kill him, if I can.'_ "Call the ANBU! S-rank missing-nin Orochimaru is here! I will go after him now!" Anko yelled. The Chunin saluted and disappeared via shunshin. Anko herself threw her stick with dango away and ran into the training ground. She had a missing-nin to kill.

*******

Somewhere in the training area team eight came across dispirited sight. Three bodies of Ame genin, crushed. There were several hundreds of senbon needles, lying on the ground, four empty 'umbrellas' and several other weapons as well as lots of blood on surrounding trees and ruins. Several small predators were already using them as their food.

"W-What happened t-there?" Hinata asked.

"Someone literally crushed these genin." Shino said in his usual emotionless tone. "We must be much more careful if we don't want to end like them." Kiba's dog, Akamaru whimpered in agreement...

"Let's pray we won't run into whoever did this." Inuzuka boy said.

...Four kilometers from this location Suna trio entered old hospital...

*******

Naruto woke up. He was lying on the pile of old leaves in dark room in one of old buildings scattered through the training area. His head was aching terribly, as was his stomach. And his Kyuubi-nee-tan was suspiciously quiet. Blond tried to ask her something, but failed... Then somebody moaned in pain on his left. Looking there he saw Sasuke. Uchiha's body was shivering as if he had high temperature. And wet shreds of clothing on his forehead only confirmed this theory... And then Naruto remembered: they fought Orochimaru.

_'This means...'_ Naruto removed top part of his clothing and tried to summon some chakra. It was much harder that usually. First his fathers seal appeared on his stomach. Then another seal appeared around first one. _'As I thought. __**Gogyou fuuin**__.'_ Naruto stopped summoning his chakra and both seals faded. Just in time so that Sakura who brought some food, didn't see anything.

"You woke up, baka?" She asked.

"For how long was I unconscious?" Blond jinchuuriki asked.

"Sixteen hours, you, baka!"

"This means it's about noon of the second day. Good. We still have some time." Naruto paused for a second. "I need you help." He stated.

"And why is that?" Was pink-haired kunoichi's reply.

"We are team, first. But, you see, that freak we fought, Orochimaru, used **Gogyou fuuin** on me and right now I'm weaker than academy student. You won't be able to protect us both - we don't know when Sasuke will wake up, find scrolls and bring us to that hospital building to finish this test." Sakura sighed.

"And how can I help you?" As an answer, blond jinchuuriki produced the scroll Jiraya gave him weak ago from his pouch and opened it on the big and pretty complex seal.

"This is **Gogyou kaiin**." Naruto then fished ink well and brush out of his pouch. "You will draw this seal on my stomach and activate it. This will remove Orochimaru's seal and I'll be able to protect us until Sasuke wakes up." Sakura nodded. "Just don't do any mistakes, or results can be unpredictable... And, by the way, if you memorize the seal, one day you may impress Sasuke and he will go on a date with you." This was stimulus good enough for pink-haired kunoichi to work very hard on drawing the seal... Half an hour later she finished.

"How do I activate this thing?" She asked.

"You must send your chakra into it. About quarter of your usual amount, if I'm not mistaken. But don't worry, as soon as Orochimaru's seal is gone, I'll refill your chakra reserves. I have more than enough chakra on my own." Naruto replied_. 'Well, at least while I slept, my reserves were refilled almost completely.'_ His teammate nodded and concentrated, building enough chakra to activate the seal. As soon as Sakura activated the seal, Naruto screamed in pain, but tried not to trash around... Minute later he was back to normal, only covered in sweat and breathing heavily.

_**'Finally. By the way, you owe me a lot for healing your arm, Naru-chan.'**_ Kyuubi said.

_'Yeah, yeah, I remember. But maybe later? I'm still in the middle of the exam.'_ Naruto replied to his 'nee-tyan'. She pouted, but agreed. "Thank you." He collected his scroll, brush and ink well and put them back into his pouch. "Now let's see what Oro-teme did to our Sasuke." Naruto put his clothes back on.

"That ninja... Orochimaru bit Sasuke-sama's neck before he disappeared..." Sakura said.

"Hm..." Naruto mumbled looking at pulsing mark on Uchiha's shoulder. "This is definitely **Juin jutsu**, also known as Cursed seal. But this modification is unknown to me. Plus I don't know how it will react if I try to suppress it right now, so we have to wait. Luckily for us Sasuke will survive. His body at least. His mind... I'm not sure whether he will be the same Sasuke we knew or not..." Sakura sighed. "Now, sit down, I'll refill your chakra reserves."

"OK." Pink-haired kunoichi sat on the ground. Naruto sat behind her and put his hands on her temples.

"Say, when you will have you chakra at your normal maximum." Sakura nodded. Then she felt something cool, like breeze, enter her body where Naruto's hands were...

*******

"Jirobo! Why you fled?!" Orochimaru was angry. Very angry. "I had to deal with Uzumaki brat myself!"

"O-Orochimaru-sama... He was too strong. Without going to second level I couldn't match his power." Man replied, nursing his hurt elbow. "And Konoha ninja could sense it if I activated second level. Please, Orochimaru-sama, don't punish me." Jirobo begged. Snake sannin sighed.

"OK... I agree, activating your Cursed seal's second level could call unneeded attention to you. But tell me, what he is capable of, that Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru said.

"He can do high-level Doton and Fuuton ninjutsu. He heals very fast. And he has raw strength to stop my punches with one hand or to throw me into the air. I'd say that he is at least on low jounin level." Orochimaru sighed again.

"Well... Looks like Kabuto needs to spy better. I was said than Naruto is barely chuunin level in strength. Now I'll have to readjust my plans..."

*******

Sun was setting down. And it surprisingly peaceful in the area. Or it seemed that it was...

"We have guests." Naruto, who was meditating on the border of entering sage mode said. "Three human. Genin team, I suppose." Activating his sage mode, blond jinchuuriki went out of his team's hideout. Sakura still tried her best to cure whatever cursed seal was doing with Sasuke. And it took only thirty seconds for 'guests' to appear. And they were the team from the Hidden Sound...

"So here you are. Go away and we will spare your life. We only need to kill Sasuke Uchiha." Boy with spiky dark-blue hair said.

"Zaku, Orochimaru said that we can kill the others, why spare?" The only female, girl with extremely long black hair, replied to her teammate.

"Mmm... Yeah, Kin, you are right, why spare their lives?" First boy, Zaku, stretched his hands out. "**Zankuha**!" There was a large gust of wind from vents on Zaku's palms. Naruto dodged it, but only barely. This attack was damn fast. Blond summoned four kage bushins and sent them to attack two other Sound-nins. "Dosu!"

"Understood. **Musical arm**!" Dosu, strange, always shrivelled, boy with no visible hair, activated device on his right hand, creating sound wave. All shadow clones immediately disappeared while real Naruto fell on the ground, holding his ears. "Now!"

"**Zankyokukuuha**!" Zaku yelled, sending much more powerful and faster attack at blond jinchuuriki.

"**Fuuton: daitoppa**!" Two jutsus canceled each other. Both Naruto and Sound genin were thinking what to do next when there was an explosion of purple chakra where Sasuke should have being. "He is awake." True to blond's words, Uchiha appeared in the battlefield. He was surrounded by purple evil aura, his eyes held bloodlust in them and his body was covered with flame-like black patterns.

"Sasuke Uchiha, I'll kill you for Orochimaru-sama!" Zaku yelled. "**Zankyokukuuha**!" Naruto and Sasuke jumped out of the jutsu's way. Sasuke turned his gaze to his teammate.

"You wait. They will die first." And he disappeared, reappearing in front of Zaku. Sound genin reacted immediately, firing '**Zankuha**' from point blank. Sasuke somehow dodged this attack jumping back and right. "**Katon: gouryuuka**!" Uchiha exhaled dragon-shaped fireball at Dosu. Zaku destroyed it using his '**Zankyokukuuha**'. Only to be attacked by **'Katon: hosenka**' jutsu.

"**Zankuha**!" Zaku blew away fire, only to find that there were shurikens, hidden in small fireballs. Sound genin dodged them all, but Sasuke again appeared in front of him with kunai in his hand. Sasuke inserted this kunai into Zaku's right shoulder's joint, making him scream in pain as he turned his kunai.

"You are proud of your hands, aren't you?" Sasuke asked. He got no reply from sound genin other than screams of pain. "Say goodbye to them." Placing his right foot on Zaku's stomach, Sasuke ripped boy's right arm, spraying blood on the ground. Before Uchiha could do anything else, Dosu attacked him with sound waves, making Konoha genin do several steps back and fall on one knee. Nothing more. This made Dosu think about saving his ass.

"We'll give you our scroll. Just spare our lives." He asked, showing everyone Earth scroll.

"Please, don't kill us."

"OK, give me your scroll, I'll neutralize Sasuke." Naruto said. Dosu nodded and threw the scroll, all the time dodging Sasuke's fireballs and shurikens while caring Zaku and boy's arm. Blond jinchuuriki summoned shadow clone, which caught the scroll, while real Naruto flashed through handseals. "**Doton: yomi numa**!" Naruto created mud-filled swamp, making Sasuke unable to move. As soon as this happened Dosu put his teammate down and tried to attack real blond, but received '**fuuton: reppushou**' from point blank.

"Go away. You have no chances against us."

"He is right. Against these two I'm almost useless, Zaku is unable to fight and you are wounded" Kin said. Dosu had to agree... Three Sound-nins left the clearing... Naruto came up to Sasuke, who was struggling to free himself from the swamp. Seeing that cursed seal was in complete control over boy's mind, Naruto hit the base of his neck, rendering Sasuke unconscious. Black pattern, created by cursed seal, turned red and returned into the mark. Blond jinchuuriki sighed.

"Orochimaru, you are psycho!" He dragged unconscious Sasuke onto the grass, before canceling the swamp. Then Naruto carried his teammate back to the hideout. Inside he found unconscious Sakura. He placed Sasuke on the pile of leaves and tried to wake pink-haired girl up.

"Au... What happened? What's with Sasuke-sama?" She asked weakly. "I remember evil aura... And fear..." Naruto placed hand on her shoulder.

"That was Sasuke under the control of cursed seal. I had to render him unconscious before he killed me." He sighed. "But on the good side, we got Earth scroll. Now I'll seal Sasuke's mark and as soon as he wakes up normal, we will complete this test." Blond jinchuuriki came up to Sasuke and removed his T-shirt. "Too bad, I don't know any strong seals to keep **Juin jutsu** at bay. But at least I can protect his mind from Orochimaru's seal's effects..." Naruto produced Jiraya's scroll about seals, ink well and brush from his pouch. Then he cut his finger with kunai and let several drops of his blood fall into the ink. After that he started drawing very complex array of signs around Sasuke's mark, from time to time checking his work with the scroll... It took him more than one hour to finish the seal. Naruto set the brush aside and started molding needed amount of chakra to activate his seals. "**Kiyoraka maru fuuin**!" He sent all that chakra into his seal. All those symbols he drew started shrinking moving until they formed two circles of tiny runes around cursed seal. "At least this will keep his head clear until we reach that hospital building..." Naruto said, before lying down by Sasuke's side. He was damn tired... "Sakura, guard us. I need to rest..." Pink-haired girl nodded.

* * *

Sasuke woke up just before the dawn. He groaned, feeling his head and left shoulder aching.

"What happened?" He asked Naruto, who was currently meditating, being on guard. Sakura was sleeping not far from him.

"You were attacked by S-rank missing-nin Orochimaru. He placed cursed seal on you and fled. You were unconscious for about twenty two hours. Then you woke up with seal controlling you mind. You almost killed Sound genins and threatened to kill me. Sound team gave us their Earth scroll and ran away, while I neutralized, albeit temporary, your seal." Blond jinchuuriki answered. "Glad, you are back."

"So we have both scrolls now. Wake Sakura up." Sasuke nooded at his pink-haired teammate.

"We need to complete this test." After Sakura was woken up, team seven headed straight to the old hospital building... Soon forest with rare ramshackle buildings and ruins was replaced with desolated streets of dead city. Three genins were walking through one of those streets when Naruto suddenly stopped them. "What's up, dobe?" Sasuke asked.

"Ambush." Naruto replied, fishing tag with strange seal out of his pouch. Seal looked like combination of storage and explosive ones with delaying seal. Blond attached this tag to one of his kunais and activated it. He threw kunai with the tag into the window of building on their right. Five seconds later there were cries of pain coming from that window.

"What was that?" Uchiha asked.

"My special seal. Seven seconds after activation it fires one hundred spikes with paralytic poison in every direction." Naruto explained.

"And how did you know that there was ambush?" Sakura asked.

"I'm sensor, remember." Was the answer she got. "Anyway, they are no threat for next several hours. Let's go."

* * *

Finally, at noon of the third day, team seven reached old hospital, located roughly in the center of training area number forty seven. And Naruto again stopped his teammates before they could enter the building.

"Why again?" Sakura asked irritably. Naruto pointed at very thin wire forced inch above the floor inside.

"**Iwa bushin**." Blond jinchuuriki whispered, while three stone clones rose from the ground. Then he casted henge over clones, making them look like they were real team seven, and sent them in. Clones, of course, activated the trap and were hit by barrage of kunais and three Kusagakura genins second later. But before that trio could understand that they were fooled, Naruto and Sasuke knocked them out... Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura went through second doors and found themselves in big room with no visible exits and big mosaic on the wall.

"What shall we do now?" Sakura asked.

"I think that it's the time we open the scrolls." Naruto replied.

"Baka! They said that we must not open them!" Pink-haired girl yelled at her teammate.

"But we already completed second test and not every team has sensor-type ninjas, like the dobe. Means there must me other way to continue. And the only idea how - these scrolls" Uchiha boy said. Blond jinchuuriki nodded.

"I agree. Let's open them." Naruto and Sasuke produced Earth and Heaven scrolls from their pouches, and opened them. There was explosion of smoke and one Umino Iruka appeared in the room.

"Long time no see, guys." Academy teacher said. "Congratulations, you are the forth team to complete this test by now." Iruka gestured team seven to follow him. "I'll show you living quarters." He opened hidden door and walked trough, closing it when team seven entered.

"Follow me."

"Um... Iruka-sensei." Naruto said. "I and Sasuke need to see Kakashi-sensei. It's of grave importance." Scarred chuunin nodded.

"OK, I'll tell him to visit you as soon as I see him."

*******

Team seven was given one of hospital rooms as their living quarters until second test is finished. The room itself wasn't very big and looked like it had no renovations since Kyuubi's attack. There were three hard beds with night tables, separated from each other by paper screens. While neither of three genins liked their room, it was still better than sleeping outside... Naruto and Sasuke waited three hours for their sensei to appear.

"Yo!" Silver-hired jounin said, appearing in a swirl of wind and leaves. "Iruka-san said that you had some important news." Blond jinchuuriki nodded.

"We ran into Orochimaru during the test." Kakashi turned the page of his orange book.

"Anko-san ran into him too. She also said something about someone being marked."

"Yes. Sasuke was marked with cursed seal." Naruto said. "I sealed it with **Kiyoraka maru fuyun**, but it's only temporary solution for the problem. For one-two weeks at best. Sasuke's cursed seal is very powerful."

"I see." Lazy jounin said "Sasuke, you'll come with me, we need to reseal you mark." The Uchiha boy was about to raise an objection, but silver-haired man continued. "Don't worry, you will resume this exam as soon as I'm done with you cursed seal." Sasuke nodded. Kakashi placed his hand on boy's shoulder and they both left the room via shunshin…

* * *

**Next time**: Chuunin exams: preliminaries! --though, I don't know when I'll be able to write next chapter... _**"Pyro**_" story will be updated before 20th september, promise.

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by the way, thanks for 40000 (41000, actually) hits!


	9. Chuunin exams: preliminaries

**Review response**:  
**Orange-Fuzz-Ball, Aaron Leach, god of all, RogueNya, crazymexican, YOURLORDANDMASTEROFINTERESTING, FumetsuKaji, Elemental Dragon Swordman, Amras Black-Fox, Amras Black-Fox, animelover88888888**, Thank you!  
**Brim Wraith**, thanks. I'm trying to keep Naruto strong, but not too strong. And, of, course, those beasts ("grabboids" ?), though mutated, will appear again in the story. Maybe even more than once.  
**dbtiger63**, unfortunately, Naruto and Sasuke won't remain allies for long.  
**Intelligo**, true, English is my second language.  
**PhantomDeath**, **God forbid!** no yaoi in this story!!! Naruto will know at least two demonic jutsu. And the first one will be revealed rather soon (in 3-5 chapters)  
**LD 1449**, true, right now the story follows canon pretty much (though I don't think even in fannon there was my Waterfall chapter...), but, hey, there are some differences and if you want to see something absolutely new, you're several years late - it is rather hard to think about something, that hasn't appeared in 160 000+ stories here. I'm trying to be original, but I'm not perfect and can easily fail there.  
**-gBoi-**, Tayuya is a redhead from Sound five. And I just don't want Hinata 'cause there are too many stories with Naruto/Hinata pairing. Plus it is already decided that this is Naruto/Yugito story. ^_^  
**Vilkath**, thanks for pointing out the weakest point of this story... but I really need it this way and can't think of the way around 'villagers hate' without breaking my plot apart. sorry.

**jutsu list:  
****Doton: iwa bushin** - (B-rank) Earth style: stone clone - (credit for this jutsu goes to PalXan from _animeforum(dot)ru_) creates stone-made solid copy of user. Stone clones are physically strong and have their own mind (although very weak so are most effectively used as a 'puppets'). Stone clones are easily affected by genjutsu. They are pretty hard to destroy physically, but have limited lifetime (the more chakra they are given when created, the longer their 'life' is). To create stone clone user must be near any sourse of material for clone (stone/brick-made walls, stone blocks, stones, sandy/rocky ground etc.)**  
kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**Katon: Goukakyuu **- (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales fire from his mouth.  
**Fuuton: Kamaitachi - **(C-rank) Wind style: cutting whirlwind - User blows a concussive wind that is imbued with his chakra. When opponent is caught in the wind, a tornado will raise them into the air and hold them with the chakra. The wind will then begin to cut the target with the sickling winds.  
**Baika no jutsu** - (clan jutsu) Multisize technique - Baika no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique used by the Akimichi clan. Using this technique the clan member can alter the size of their body. Highly skilled clan members can alter the size of their body to a large scale with little trouble. When the clan member changes the size of their body, it uses up body calories. Because of that the clan members will usually be seen eating high calorie diets.  
**Nikudan sensha** - (C-rank) Human bullet tank - Nikudan Sensha is a Taijutsu technique used by the Akimichi clan. After using the Baika no Jutsu technique to modify their body into a large sphere shape, the clan member draws their limbs into the main spherical body. Next they launch their body into the air and begin to spin at a high rate of speed. Launching himself at the target, the fast spinning prevents most incoming projectile attacks from landing, instead they bounce off with little effect. Any direct attack the opponent uses with their body would result in the crushing of their attackers bones.  
**Shikyaku no jutsu** - (C-rank) - Shikyaku no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by the Inuzuka clan. After forming the needed hand seals, chakra begins to emit from the body of the clan member and they take on a more canine-like appearance. These body changes give them increased speed and agility.  
**Juujin Bunshin** - (D-rank) Beast-Man Clone - Juujin Bunshin is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by the Inuzuka clan. First the clan member and the familiar may ingest a soldier pill to help their strength and stamina. Then, acting in conjunction with the clan member, the canine familiar will transform themself into a copy of the clan member. While in this form they can accomplish many of the same techniques as the original.  
**Zankuha** - (D-rank) Decapitating air waves - Using air wents in Zaku's hands, this jutsu creates a massive gust of wind which he can blast at an opponent.  
**Zankyokukuuha** - (C-rank) Extreme decapitating air waves - stronger version of **Zankuha**  
**Gatsuuga** - (C-rank) Dual piercing fang - Gatsuuga is a supreme Taijutsu technique of the Juujin Bunshin style of combat. After the familiar transforms into a copy of the clan member, both the familiar and ninja will begin a spinning attack. The preferred time to attack is when their opponent is showing an opening. Using this chance the fast rotating of the two attackers will cause a damaging impact on their opponent when they connect with their claws. While using this technique, both attackers are able to rotate and strike from multiple angles.  
**Kage mane no jutsu** - (clan jutsu) Shadow imitation technique** - **Kage Mane no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique developed by the Nara clan. It's original purpose was as a skill to help delay any pursuers. After forming the needed hand seals, the clan member is able to manipulate their shadow along any surface. By using other nearby shadows they can further extend the reach of their shadow, however they are limited to the surface area of the original cast shadow. Once the clan members shadow reaches the target shadow, it will attach itself. While attached the target will be frozen, only able to replicate in mirror form the actions of the clan member. If the clan member is low on chakra, the Kage Mane will falter and the shadow will return to its normal form.

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'_  
**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power / jutsus"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'_**

**_AN: _**Great thanks to _**LZ35 SRX**_ for beta-reading this chapter!!! This chapter's text will (or will not) be replaced with the one beta-read by _**eureka7fan**_

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 7: chuunin exams: preliminaries**

It was murky afternoon in Konohagakure no Sato. Twenty four genins stood in eight lines in the big, turned into arena for the fights, yard of old hospital building. In front of them, on the rampant stood Sandaime Hokage in his red and white robes, Ibiki, Anko, about three dozens of chuunins who organized this exam and eight jounin sensei of eight teams that passed second test. Sarutobi was explaining the real purpose of this exams as a replacement of the war between allies... Finally his speech was over. Jounin in standard uniform and dark-blue bandana on his head with senbon needle in his mouth shunshin'ed in front of genins.

"Good afternoon everyone. I'm Shiranui Genma and I'll be presiding preliminary matches of the third exam. Before we start, I'd like to say something... If you are not feeling well or you just feel like quitting after previous tests, please, come forward."

"I'd like to quit." Kabuto said, making one step forward. Naruto narrowed his eyes: even standing four lines from Kabuto, blond jinchuuriki could easily say that gray-haired genin would breeze through this round. He must be hiding something.

"We are going to quit too." Two genins from Ame also came forward. Genma looked through files in his hands.

"Yakushi Kabuto from Hidden Leaf, Kagari and Mubi from Hidden Rain, you may leave now." Senbon-chewing jounin paused. "Does anyone else want to retire?.. Oh, almost forgot to tell you that from now on it will be individual fighting." No one else wanted to quit. "OK, now I'll explain the rules of preliminary matches. You are allowed to use any weapons and jutsu you want, though killing your opponent isn't welcomed. Fight continues until one of you dies, knocked out or until I stop the match. Winner will advance into the finals. Also, as we have twenty one participants now, one of you will have to fight twice. He or she will have to win at least one match to advance." Part of the wall behind rampart moved and all genins could see big screen. "This lucky ninja is..." Screen flashed through the list of genins and stopped on one name. "...Uzumaki Naruto. His fight will be the first one. His opponent will be..." Second name appeared on the screen. "...Aburame Shino, both from Konohagakure no Sato. Will everyone else move to the upper level?" Genma said, pointing at two smaller ramparts on the sides of the yard. Nineteen genins moved there, leaving only Naruto and Shino on the arena. "Are you ready?" Both genins nodded. "Then you may start." With this senbon-chewing jounin jumped away to the border of the arena.

* * *

Shino was looking at Naruto for several second.

"Naruto-san, I propose strict taijutsu fight as no matter who wins this match, Konoha will have its representative in the finals. And we both need to conceal our true strength." Blond jinchuuriki, who wasn't sure if he could win this match Shino went all out, while not wanting to use too much about his abilities, nodded.

"I agree, Shino-san." Said Naruto, getting into toad taijutsu stance. Both opponents looked at each other for a second, before charging at each other. Naruto went on offensive and tried to palm Shino in the chest, but bug user blocked his attack at the same time trying to hit blond's head. Young jinchuuriki ducked under Aburame's fist and tried to kick his opponent, but Shino sidestepped this hit.

"You are rather good, Naruto-san." Bug user said as he jumped back, creating some distance between him and Naruto.

"You too." Blond boy replied, sending some chakra to his limbs to increase speed and strength. Apparently, Shino was doing the same. Two again charged at each other, this time ending in the stalemate, blocking each other's attack. After several seconds of struggling, they jumped back. Naruto changed his stance into the one for sage taijutsu, before attacking Shino. Aburame was taken aback a bit by the change of his opponent's stance and was almost too late to block blond's palm strike. But even if he did block the attack, power behind it pushed him back a bit. Naruto sent strike after strike at Shino, not giving him any chance to counterattack and slowly pushing him into the corner of the arena. Bug user understood Naruto's plan and bent backwards dodging blond's strike instead of blocking it, kicked Naruto's knee and then implanted his fist into young jinchuuriki's gut. Naruto fell on the ground but was ready to continue fighting before Shino could deliver finishing blow and rolled away from Aburame's kick. Naruto spun on his hands, hitting Shino's knees from behind and making him fall on the ground. Blond jinchuuriki reached for his kunai and slightly pressed the blade to Shino's neck.

"Proctor, I forfeit." Aburame said almost emotionlessly.

"Very well, as Aburame Shino forfeited, winner of the first match is Uzumaki Naruto." Genma announced.

"You fought well, Shino-san." Naruto said to Shino, helping him to stand up. Bug user nodded.

"Thank you, Naruto-san, it was a good fight." After the two left the arena, second match was announced: Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino.

* * *

Girls fought like academy students, with weak and sloppy taijutsu and almost no jutsu: Sakura used simple bushin in the beginning while later on Ino used Shintenshin, but failed to take over pink-haired girls as she was kicked out of Sakura's head by girl's inner self. Fight ended with girls knocking each other out.

"The second match ended in a draw as neither of opponents are able to continue fighting. Neither of them advance into the finals." Genma said. Then screen showed who will fight in the next round. "Will Sabaku no Temari from Sunagakure no Sato and Akado Yoroi from Konohagakure no Sato come down to the arena?" When two opponents were facing each other, standing in the middle of the arena, Genma asked them: "Are you ready?" Both ninjas nodded. "Begin!." And senbon-chewing jounin jumped to the border of arena. Temari too jumped back, putting some distance between herself and Yoroi.

"Hm. This means that you are long ranged fighter. Too bad for you." Her opponent said, while strange blue aura appeared around his right hand. Then he charged at her, aiming for her head with his right hand. But when he was mere two meters from Sand kunoichi, she drew her fan from her back and rammed it into Yoroi's stomach.

"Yes, you were right, I'm long ranged fighter, but that doesn't mean that I'm weak when it comes to fighting in a short ranged combat." Temari told to her opponent who was just lifting up his head after that ramming attack.

"Bitch!" Yoroi cursed. Temari jumped into the air and opened her fan.

"**Fuuton: Kamaitachi!**" Suna kunoichi launched concussive winds at her opponent and when these winds hit Yoroi, small tornado appeared, lifting unfortunate genin into the air and cutting him. When winds died down, unconscious and cut in all possible ways Yoroi fell on the ground. Genma came up to him and checked his vitals.

"As Akado Yoroi is unable to continue fighting, winner of the third match by knockout is Sabaku no Temari." Temari walked back to her team, onto the rampart, while her opponents was carried away by medical ninjas.

* * *

Screen showed next two opponents.

"OK, the forth match of the preliminaries will be Tenten vs. Uzumaki Naruto, both from Konohagakure no Sato." Tenten, girl in dark-pink chinese-styled blouse and dark-green pants with her hair made into two buns walked down to the arena, while Naruto used simple doton jutsu to melt into the wall behind him and raise from the ground three meters from Tenten on the arena. After both opponents confirmed that they were ready, proctor started the fight and moved to his spot on the border of the arena.

"Unlike Shino, I will go all out on you, hope, you don't mind, Naruto?" Tenten asked. Blond jinchuuriki just shrugged.

"No problems there." He replied, shifting into toad taijutsu stance while kunoichi he had to fight jumped back to put some distance between them. As soon as her legs touched the ground, Tenten produced four senbon needles from her pouch and threw them at Naruto. Blond genin tried to dodge projectiles but failed as two of them drove in his forearm and the crook of his neck, making him fell on the ground. Tenten walked to him with kunai in both her hands.

"Forfeit." She ordered.

"I... Never... Give... up..." Was Naruto's reply.

"Too bad for you." Kunoichi said, stabbing his stomach. But instead of blood there was only dust. Blond genin's body itself turned into cracked stone for several seconds, before falling apart. Tenten looked around for the real Naruto but couldn't find him... Suddenly she heard silent steps from behind and spun around. Just in time to block blond's kunai with her own. "So you used stone clone?" Girl asked.

"Well, you said that you'll go all out on me. I just thought that I too can show some power." Naruto replied with a grin, before jumping back and throwing the kunai at Tenten. Kunoichi dodged it and threw her own kunai at young jinchuuriki. Blond dodged first one, but second left a small cut on his neck... Second later Naruto burst into the cloud of white smoke. Seven kunai flew from this smoke at Tenten, but she dodged or blocked all of them.

"Was that shadow clone?" Girl asked in surprise: real clones weren't simple and to know two different types for a genin was unheard of.

"Yep." Naruto replied, sending two more kunai at Tenten, but she again dodged them. Tenten produced scroll from her pouch and threw it into the air, where it unrolled, showing many containment seals. Girl jumped into the air after her scroll and began hitting seals, each time producing edged weapon and throwing it at her opponent. At first Naruto was able to either dodge or deflect them, but soon he was overwhelmed by the amount of weapons thrown at him and was hit. Only to turn into cracked stone... Tenten landed on the ground and looked around, once again searching for her opponent. Not finding any visible Naruto, she asked irritated:

"Hey, do you exist at all?!"

"If I didn't exist, how would you end up fighting me?" Said Naruto's voice from above. Looking up, Tenten saw her opponent sitting just above hospital's forth floor's window, using chakra to stick to the wall. "So, you are weapon mistress." Blond jinchuuriki stated. "That's good. I finally can test my sensei's gift against someone who uses weapon." With that he jumped down to the arena. In the air Naruto hit the seal on his left wrist, unsealing strange weapon. On the first look it looked like rather short - blade was only half a meter long - sword with lightning shaped and slightly curved blade and its handle being inside metallic ring, covered with some seals. But if one was to look closer, he could see that the blade was actually triple and the weapon itself was a folded shuriken. And then, there was something else, just a metallic cylinder with seals.

"Interesting weapon you have there, very interesting..." Tenten said as two stiletto appeared in her hands. Then she ran towards Naruto and when she was close enough, she tried to wound him with her stiletto, but both her current weapons were blocked by folded shuriken in Naruto's hands. Tenten immediately jumped back. Blond jinchuuriki clicked his shuriken open and threw it at his opponent. Kunoichi dodged it, but she was proven wrong when shuriken changed its direction and came at her again. Tenten deflected the shuriken, but it again changed its direction, once again attacking her. Kunoichi looked closer and saw very thin blue string of chakra between shuriken and metallic cylinder in Naruto's left hand. "Are you puppeteer?"

"No." Blond genin replied. "Normally I have too bad chakra control to create chakra strings needed to control puppets. But this weapon..." Naruto returned the shuriken to his hands. "...This shuriken is special. My sensei created seals that allow me to control it. That is why I said that this is a gift from my sensei..." Blond paused. "But we have a fight, so let's continue." Using chakra to increase his speed, Naruto zigzagged towards Tenten. He swung his shuriken, once again folded, but his attack was blocked by girl's stiletto. Suddenly young jinchuuriki turned his weapon around, so the sharp edge of folded shuriken was facing away from Tenten. Feeling that something was about to happen, kunoichi moved right. At the same time Naruto clicked his shuriken open.

"You almost got me there." Tenten commented.

"And what about now?" Said Naruto's voice from beneath and he girl felt a grip on both of her legs. Naruto with shuriken appeared in front of her, pointing the tip of one of the shuriken's blades to her throat. "Do you want to win this match?" He asked. Tenten looked dumbfound. "I already passed preliminaries, I don't have to win this match too." Naruto explained.

"No." Kunoichi replied. "I clearly lost, so I don't have the right to advance. Proctor: I forfeit." She called.

"As Tenten forfeited, winner of the forth match is Uzumaki Naruto." Genma announced and blond jinchuuriki's clone disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Naruto, can I see your shuriken, please?" Tenten asked with puppy eyes. Naruto looked at her. Then at his shuriken and back at the girl. Finally he sighted.

"OK." And two left the arena, chatting about Naruto's shuriken and all sharp, edgy and pointy objects in the world... Somewhere on the rampart one Sasuke Uchiha was raging: Naruto fought two matches yet he hadn't shown any jutsu worth copying. Though that shuriken was good. Maybe he will be able to make the dobe give it to him.

* * *

The fifth match was Sabaku no Gaara of Suna versus Rock Lee. While green clad genin went all out and beyond to win this match - he even opened five inner gates and used lotus technique twice - but this wasn't enough to defeat Ichibi jinchuuriki and his sand jutsu, though Lee became first person ever to wound Gaara. In the end only interference of Lee's sensei Maito Gai, also green clad and with bushy eyebrows, save Lee from being turned into bloody sand. Gaara, of course, was angry that his 'prey' was taken from him, but could do nothing about it right now as Konoha jounins that were here could end his existence for real. After Rock Lee was carried away by medical ninja, sixth match was called.

"Will Akimichi Choji from Konohagakure no Sato and Sabaku no Kankuro from Sunagakure no Sato come down to the arena?" Genma asked. After ...big-boned boy of the Leaf village and Gaara's teammate in black clothes with bundle on his back came down and confirmed that they were ready to fight, senbon-chewing jounin told them to start and jumped to his spot at the border of the arena.

"**Baika no jutsu!** **Nikudan sensha!**" Choji immediately called, his body becoming almost spherical, his limbs and going into, thus making the boy turn into big heavy ball. Kankuro put bandaged ...something on the ground and produced two kunai. Choji rolled towards his opponent, intent to win his match with the first attack. And Suna nin couldn't stop his advancing mass and was sent flying into the wall. But he stopped in the midair, something falling down from his body. Everybody looked at the arena and saw that the real Kankuro was there, while what Choji hit was just a puppet.

"Karasu, attack!" Suna puppeteer said, making his puppet shoot small ball that turned into violet smoke when in hit the ground. And Choji was in that smoke. ...Leaf genin rolled out of the smoke but then there was poof of smoke and he fell on the ground unconscious, reverted to his normal size and shape.

"What was that?" Genma asked, appearing by Choji's side and checking boy's vitals.

"Neuro-paralitic poison." Kankuro replied. Then he produced small package from his pouch. "This is the antidote. If you don't give it to him, he may die. Though were are opponents on this exam, our countries are still allies and it won't be good if kill your ninja." Genma nodded.

"As Akimichi Choji is unable to continue fighting, winner of the sixth match is Sabaku no Kankuro."

* * *

After the fight between Choji and Kankuro, seventh match was announced: Hyuuga Hinata versus Hyuuga Neji. Both cousins displayed good skills in juuken, Hyuuga family taijutsu style, but Neji was better and seriously injured Hinata. But despite that, and speeches about her misery from Neji, Hinata stood up and continued fighting. She got another serious injury soon, but again stood up and continued fighting. This made Neji very angry and he hit his cousins heart. Then he tried to kill her, but he was stopped by Genma, Gai, Asuma and Kurenai. Neji ranted about unfair everyone was towards Hyuuga branch family members. Well, he ranted until Naruto appeared in front of him and slapped him.

"I know about Hyuuga clan. You have all rights in the world to hate them, but you have no rights to hate Hinata. I know her for a bit more than a year, but it was enough for me: Hinata will never do, nor she ever did anything bad to you. But you still tried to kill her. For this I shall make you pay." Naruto yelled.

"You don't understand a thing!" Neji yelled back.

"You two, stop this now!" Genma said in a tone that made both genins freeze. "You can solve this after, but right now we do have an exam. Go back to your places." Genins nodded and walked away.

"I will make you pay for what you did to Hinata!" Naruto said before they parted for different sections of the rampart.

"Like you can do that, loser!" Neji hissed back before regaining his stoic and aristocratic self.

* * *

"Ahem..." Genma looked at the screen. "OK, the eighth match will be between Tsurugi Misumo from Konohagakure no Sato and Kinuta Dosu from Otogakure no Sato. Will both participants come down to the arena?" When two genins were standing in front of each other, senbon-chewing jounin asked them, like he asked every pair of opponents before: "Are you ready?" Both nodded. "Begin!"

"This will be easy!" Dosu yelled as he charged towards Misumo. Sound genin tried to hit his opponent with his musical arm and render him unconscious, but Misumo wasn't that weak and caught Dosu's arm. Faster than Sound-nin could process it, his opponent wrapped him. "What the fuck?!"

"In order to gather information, my body has been altered to be able to fit in any place. But this also allows me to deal with weaklings like you without breaking a sweat. Give up or I'll kill you." Misumo started to squeeze the hell out of Dosu, but Sound genin wasn't going to lose this match.

"Eat this!" He finally reached for the device on his right arm and actvated it, creating very strong ultrasound waves. Misumo's glasses broke and he himself was disoriented. This allowed Dosu to escape from his opponent's grip and kick Misumo in the neck, knocking him off. Genma appeared by Misumo's side and checked boy's vitals. He was still alive but with that kick chances that he will be able to continue being ninja were slim...

"As Tsurugi Misumo is unconscious and unable to continue fighting, winner of the eighth match is Kinuta Dosu." Proctor announced.

* * *

Medic-nins carried Misumo away and screen again showed two names, this time these names were "Inuzuka Kiba" and "Abumi Zaku". Opponents came down to the arena, Kiba accompanied by his partner Akamaru. As soon as Genma let them start the match, Zaku stretched his left hand out and pointed it at Kiba.

"**Zankuha!**" He sent a strong gust of wind at Inuzuka boy, but both Kiba and Akamaru, who was up to now sitting on Kiba's head, dodged the attack. Zaku sent another **Zankuha** at his opponents, but they again dodged it. Sound genin hissed in frustration.

"Hey, partner, eat this!" Feral boy said as he threw small pill into Akamaru's mouth. When dog swallowed the pill, its fur turned brown and its fangs and claws elongated a bit. "**Shikyaku no jutsu!**" Inuzuka boy became even more feral and started another jutsu. "**Juujin bushin!**" Kiba called as he performed several handseals. In a poof of smoke Akamaru changed into the second Kiba. "Listen here, sound boy, give up now or we will beat you into a bloody pulp!" Both Kibas roared. Though Zaku seemed unfazed by this.

"You? Beat me? Don't make me laugh!" He stretched his hand towards his opponentsa once again. "**Zankuha!**" But his attack was easily evaded.

"I warned you!" Kiba roared. "**Gatsuuga!**" He and Akamaru started spinning and turned into two gray tornados, quickly advancing towards Zaku. Sound genin stretched now both his arms.

"**Zankyokukuuha!**" Yet, his strongest attack wasn't able to do anything to Kiba ana Akamaru, only changing their direction. But feral duo quickly turned around, once again aiming at Zaku. In his crazy idea, Sound genin used **Zankuha** on the dusty arena, creating smoke screen around himself. Second later two gray tornados entered the smoke screen and almost hit Zaku - he was able to dodge attack, though his right shoulder was now dislocated and bleeding. He turned to two Kibas, who were looking at him. "You two aren't using your eyes or ears to find me. This means that you are aiming using your noses. You aren't as invinc-..."

"**Gatsuuga!**" Zaku was unable to finish his sentence due to being attacked once again. But after missing him for the first time two gray tornados separated. One was attacking him frontally while the other one was moving somewhere on periphery. "Got ya!" Zaku yelled, throwing smoke bomb with strong smell under on the ground. As soon as the attacking tornado entered 'stinky zone' jutsu was canceled and Akamaru was revealed. "**Zankuha!**" Zaku yelled, sending poor dog into the wall. But doing this Sound genin failed to notice Kiba who came from behind, using sleeve of his coat to cover his nose. With one strong hit to the neck Inuzuka boy rendered his opponent unconscious. Then he came up to his partner dog while Genma announced him as a winner of the ninth match. "Akamaru, I'm so sorry that I made you do this, but, hey, we won the match!" In response dog howled weakly.

* * *

"The tenth match will be between Tsuchi Kin from Otogakure no Sato and Uchiha Sasuke from Konohagakure no Sato. Will the opponents come down to the arena?" Senbon-chewing jounin announced. When two confirmed that they were ready to fight, Genma told them to start and jumped to his spot on the border of the arena. Sasuke activated his sharingan and looked at the girl in front of him.

"Bow to me. Bow to the power of the Uchiha and I may spare you." He said, glaring at his opponent.

"Never!" Kin spit back. "I'll make you pay for what you did to Zaku!" With that she threw several senbon needles at Sasuke. He caught two needles while dodging other.

"Naive." He said darkly, crashing small bells that were tied to these two senbon. "My eyes can see through you petty jutsu. Now you will pay for opposing me, the great Uchiha!" Sasuke flashed through handseals. "**Katon: Goukakyuu!**" He launched giant fireball at Kin. And she wasn't fast enough to avoid the jutsu and was hit by fireball. When fires died down, clothes on her back were burned away and there were second and third degree burns, but she still tried to stand up. But failed as her arms gave off and she fell on the ground, losing her conscious from extreme pain. Sasuke saw her raising and started flashing through handseals for another fire jutsu but Genma appeared in front of him and stopped him from performing the jutsu.

"You already won. You don't have to kill her." Genma said to Sasuke coldly. Uchiha hissed but knew it better not to oppose jounin. Or several jounins. "Winner of the tenth match is Uchiha Sasuke!" Proctor announced.

* * *

"Your seal isn't as good as you said it is, cursed seal is corrupting his mind." Naruto said to Kakashi as they watched Sasuke returning to the rampart. Silver-haired jounin sighed.

"Yeah, looks like... Maybe I did a big mistake when I removed your seal." He paused. "Maybe you can place it once again?" Copy-cat ninja asked.

"I don't think that Sasuke will allow this. And if we put it without his permission it may make things worse than they are now: he may start fighting against our seals." Blond jinchuuriki replied.

"That would be the worst case." Kakashi agreed.

"I think that it would be better if you try to make him change himself by his own will. Though it will be very hard task." Naruto suggested and masked jounin nodded. "Oh, and I hope you won't mind if I'll be gone from the village until finals? Old man Hokage is OK with it." Kakashi again nodded.

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Sasuke asked them demandingly. Two ninja looked at each other and then replied in unison:

"Nothing interesting!"

* * *

"OK, And now we will have the last match. Will Oboro from Amegakure no Sato and Nara Shikamaru come to the arena?" Genma announced. As soon as the match started, Oboro created about thirty haze clones, who tried to wear Shikamaru out.

"Troublesome..." Lazy genin muttered. "**Kage mane no jutsu!**" His shadow became alive and went after Oboros, splitting into more than thirty flows, each trying to capture different target. And in the swarm of clones Shikamaru managed to catch the real one. As soon as this happened, all clones disappered on their own accord. "You are really troublesome..." Nara heir muttered, breathing heavily.

"Then just give up and go home, you, lazy ass!" Oboro shouted.

"If I do so, mom will be reprimanding me... That is even more troublesome than fighting you." Shikamaru replied and started running diagonally towards the wall, Oboro copying his moves.

"What the fuck is this?"

"This is shadow imitation technique." Nara boy replied, releasing his jutsu just before Oboro hit the wall. Surprised, Ame ninja couldn't stop himself in time and hit the wall hard, knocking himself off. Genma appeared by his side.

"As Oboro is unable to continue fighting, winner of the eleventh and final match of preliminaries is Nara Shikamaru." He announced. "Now, will Uzumaki Naruto, Sabaku no Temari, Sabaku no Gaara, Sabaku no Kankuro, Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba and Uchiha Sasuke come down to the arena. You will be told about finals." When all nine genins were there, Ibiki brought a box.

"This is sortition for the finals. Please, take one paper from the box." Proctor of the first exam said. He walked from genin to genin, allowing them to draw a paper. "Now, when you all have you papers, please, tell me the number on your paper." Kankuro was the first one to reply:

"One."

"Five." Gaara said emotionlessly.

"Three." Temari's voice said.

"Eight." Naruto told his number to Ibiki.

"Two." Kiba said with Akamaru barking on his head.

"Seven." Dosu said quietly.

"Four." Was Neji's reply.

"Six." Sasuke said indifferently.

"This means that the lazy bum got number nine." Ibiki concluded, looking at already sleeping genin. "So fights in the finals will be: the first one will be between Kankuro and Kiba, Second one between Temari and Neji, third one between Gaara and Sasuke, Forth one between Dosu and Naruto and Shikamaru will fight the winner of the first match. Changes are unlikely, but not impossible."

"Thank you, Ibiki." Sandaime Hokage said. "Now, finals will be in thirty days at Konohagakure no Sato main stadium. This means that you have one month to hone your skills and learn new. Use this time wisely and remember, you will be representing your village in the finals, so try to do your is all, you may go now." With this genins started walking away from the arena.

* * *

_**AN**_ 2: Here we go, 7th (9th) chapter. Hope you liked it. **Read & Review!**

As a spoiler: Fuu will be there in the next (or next two, not sure about how I'll write this part - it seems to be rather big) chapter. But I will certainly make up for her poor performance during Waterfall village chapter.


	10. Chuunin exams: finals

*** Review response**:  
**Xtremo3000**, **Aaron Leach**, **god of all**, **Lycan91**, **xfighter4**, **Trooper0007**, **animelover88888888**, **EDelta88**, **Irishfighter**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **dsvjr18**, **the blueberry king**, **drdeth2000**, **bumike99**, **Antimatterannihilation**, **Kwisatz Haderach**, **Libra'sAngel27**, thank you!  
**Orange-Fuzz-Ball**, for the next few chapters Sasuke will be a lot like he was in canon, but true, he will be a little more power hungry and all...  
**PhantomDeath**, (!!! **spoiler **!!!) true, Kyuubi will be one hell of a *bad* horny girl. But even she understands that right now now Naruto is too young for THAT, so right now 'payment' is just a make out session. ^_^  
**RogueNya**, unfortunately, Naruto will fight Neji in the finals - I need Neji to be good in the story and Naruto is the only one who can show him *right* way to live  
**bladerunner89**, Naruto fought twice 'cause there were 21 genins in the preliminaries - someone had to fight twice. =)  
**the shadow overlord279**, sorry, my bad to write pairings like THAT. main pairings will be: Yugito/ Naruto, Yugito/Naruto/Fuu, Naruto/Fuu/Deidara, Fuu/Deidara. Deidara is a guy like he is in canon!**  
Cre A. Tor00x**, don't be. The only problem I have with such reviews - they still have no effect on my grammar, despite everything I try. And what makes me really angry is not the reviews I get, but the fact that there are stories with much worse grammar and NO ONE even leaves a single review about that there.  
**waterblade**, are you review'ing THAT story? but, OK, the name Tamaki never appeared on manga pages, but (I suppose, as all reliable web site name her this way) it (name) was given in one of the databooks. And... **nymph** - nature deity appearing as a beautiful maiden (Mythology); beautiful young woman;

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Gyaku kuchiyose** - (unknown rank) reverse summoning - acts in an opposite way to the normal summoning. **Gyaku kuchiyose** allows animal to summon human to its location. the only know species to perform this jutsu are toads.**  
Doton: iwate** - (B-rank) Earth style: stone hands - ninjutsu I created. After performing needed handseals user will place his hands on the ground or concrete and it will form hard-to-destroy gauntlets around user's hands. Unfortunately, this jutsu constanty drains user's chakra, while it is active.**  
Doton: dai-dochuu bakuha** - (B-rank) Earth style: grand underground explosion - another jutsu I created. The jutsu creates an explosion underground in certain zone. Used mostly to throw enemies into the air, where they have a lot les chances to evade next attack  
**Ookuya **- (D-rank) Multiple arrows - one more jutsu I created. Shoots several spears from the gauntlet, formed by **Doton: iwate** jutsu  
**Fuuton: reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - strong gust of wind sent towards his target. When acting in conjunction with another thrown weapon, the wind can increase its power and deadliness.  
******Hakkeshou kaiten** - (clan jutsu) Eight divination palms of the hand, Heavenly spin - If an attack is near, the clan member will release a large of amount of chakra from their tenketsu. The member then begins to spin like a top, creating a whirling vortex that can nullify almost any attack.  
**Hakke hasangeki **- (clan jutsu) Eight divination signs, Destructive mountain fist - this is a taijutsu technique utilized by Hyuuga Neji. Extending chakra from his body, Neji will thrust his palm into his target. This will send out a wave of chakra that will knock his opponent backwards  
**Hageshii genko** - (D-rank) Strong fist - just a strong punch with **Doton: iwate** -formed gauntlet. Another jutsu of my creation.**  
Fuuton:**** d********aitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.**  
Doton: yomi numa** - (A-rank) Earth style: swamp of the underworld - This jutsu creates vast swamp. If someone happens to be where the swamp is created, he will sink and, if swamp is deep enough, may be killed.  
**Doton: kamiriyu no hitoya** - (B-rank) Earth style: rising dragon prison - and yet another jutsu I created. This ninjutsu created a dragon head that captures and immobilizes target from below. Can be cut with **chidori **or **raikiri**, but other than this, it is almost unbreakable from inside.**  
Katon: goukakyuu **- (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales fire from his mouth.  
**Suna busin** - (unknown rank) Sand clone - The clone functions like a normal solid Bunshin, except it is made out of sand.  
**Daisan no me** - (unknown rank) The third eye - this is a Ninjutsu technique unique to the Sand ninja Gaara. Created out of sand, the Eye allows Gaara to view an opponent when he is either encased in his Suna no Muya or when he needs to be able to see his opponent's actions when he has no clear line of sight with his own eyes.  
**(Raiton) Chidori** - (A-rank) (Lightning style) Thousand birds - this is an assasination jutsu utilizing lightning element, using which one can cut almost through anything. Due to the high speed of attack, the jutsu emits a sound like a thousand birds chirping which gave the technique its name. Because of the great amount of chakra needed to utilize the technique, the technique can only be used so many times during the day. Downside of this jutsu is that while user is attacking, he has troubles with dodging enemy's counterattack because of his tunnel vision. So this jutsu is most effective to kill immobilized opponent.

* * *

_**AN**_: This chapter finishes first quarter of the story (if you count by chapters), but the real plot hasn't started yet - it will, if I estimated correctly, in chapter 22-24; Yugito, if (again) my estimations are correct, will appear in chapter 13 (personally, not through message scrolls), but won't play active role in the plot until 22-24th chapter; Fuu will be there in the next chapter, but after that she won't appear for a long time (until 30th chapters, I think)

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'_  
**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power / jutsus / Iruka's 'demon head' speaking"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'_**

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 8: chuunin exams: finals**

"**Gyaku kuchiyose**!" Fukasaku hit the ground with his paw and in a poof of smoke one Uzumaki Naruto appeared in the small clearing, located in the jungles not far from toad village at Mebokuzan mountain. For a moment blond was disoriented from the space-jump.

"Thank you, sensei." Young jinchuuriki said to elder sage toad. "What'll my training be for this time?"

"**Oh... Straight to business, are we? Let's at least find more comfortable place for that.**" Naruto nodded. The two walked through the jungles towards sage training ground and toad oil fountain. When they finally were there, Fukasaku leaped on the rock there to be on one level with his ward and student. "**Naruto-kun, we both know that you are rather strong for your age and that you are the youngest sage in the history of Meboku, but we both know that you still need to improve.**"

"That's true, sensei." Naruto said as he nodded in agreement with Fukasaku.

"**And in these twenty five days we will mostly improve your body. Your normal body. I personally think that you rely on your sage mode too much and while it is not necessary a bad thing, you need time to activate it. And during this time you are more vulnerable than a civilian.**" Toad said. "**During your month break we will train your body so that you won't need sage powers that much. But this will also give you another edge: the stronger your original body is, the stronger your sage body will be. But of course, we won't completely forget about your sage training, Naruto-kun.**"

"I understand, sensei." Young jinchuuriki said. Even if he didn't exactly liked what his sensei proposed, he knew that toad elder sage was right.

"**Good. While it is still morning, today we won't have training. You need some time to get used to climate there once again, so you can relax today... Your room is still there, so don't worry about where you will live during your training. You may go now, Naruto-kun.**" Fukasaku said. "**But no slacking off tomorrow!**" He added then.

"Hai." Naruto replied.

*******

It was twentieth day of one month brake before chuunin exams finals. Konohagakure no Sato was basking in the warm evening... One Tsuchi Kin of the Hidden Sound village was retuning to her room in the hotel, when she heard two men speaking behind the door; one of the two was her master Orochimaru-sama. Normally Kin would just pass by, but she heard her master saying name of one of her teammates and this picked girl's interest. She arguted her hearing to its limit and listened...

"...Yes, Orochimaru-sama, Dosu Kinuta is dead. He was foolish enough to challenge our trump card a fight and lost." The other man, her master's right hand said.

"That's a bad news to me. One of my precious sacrifices is now dead and useless..." Orochimaru replied. "But I still have two more. They should be enough for my plan to work. Konoha will fall no matter what..." Kin didn't listen further. Her gut feeling was telling her that she knew who were the other two sacrifices. And being shinobi of the Hidden Sound, she didn't value her team that much, especially with the way they treat her, so she just walked silenly back to the ladder and then she ran away. Outside the hotel, crazy idea entered her mind: the very same village that her master, ex-master, she quickly corrected herself, wanted to destroy may protect her. Of course, that meant that she would be betraying Hidden Sound, but right now she valued her own life more... So she headed for the Hokage tower. While running, she drew kunai from her holster and slashed a scratch across musical note sign on her hitae-ate...

Kin entered the Hokage tower, surprised that it is still open even this late in the evening. But as soon as she stepped through the doors, two ANBU warriors appeared by her side and blocked her way.

"Please, let me see Hokage-sama. I have very important information!" Girl almost cried.

"Business hours of Hokage-sama are over, please come back tomorrow to make an appointment." One of the masked warriors said emotionlessly. "Plus you are not Konohagakure shinobi, you'll need to pass through special procedures before you can see Hokage-sama."

"But... This is very important!.." Kin cried. ANBU turned her around and pushed out of the doors.

"Business hours are over. Come back tomorrow."

"Lion, Tiger, let her in. Someone who ran from Orochimaru may really have something important to tell. I'll listen to what Tsuchi Kin have to say." Aged Hokage said as he appeared in the lobby of the Hokage tower.

"Hokage-sama?" Both ANBU said in unison, surprised by Sarutobi's wish.

"But I suppose, you'll have to be there too, just in case." Sandaime added then.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Lion ANBU replied to his leader. Then he turned to Kin. "You may enter then. Please, give us all the weapons you carry." Ex-Sound kunoichi complied.

* * *

"So, what is the information you wanted to tell us?" Aged Hokage asked, again sitting behind his table in his office. Across the table there was Kin, sitting in the 'guest' chair. Two ANBU warriors from before were standing right behind her back.

"Orochimaru-sa... Orochimaru is planning something awful! He wants Konoha to fall!" Girl replied.

"Well this exactly is not a new information for us..." Sarutobi began.

"But this involves sacrificing humans lives!.. And it will happen soon!.." Kin cried. Then it hit her, what she did right now in front of the leader of the strongest ninja village in Elemtal countries. "...Please, forgive me my rudeness, Hokage-sama." Old man nodded.

"I understand your emotions. May I ask, do you know any details about what exactly Orochimaru is planning?" Hokage asked then.

"I was just genin under Orochimaru and had no access to this kind of information. The only other thing I know, I am one of the sacrifices. Those two genins that were my team are two other. And Orochimaru plans to act during finals." Kin replied. Sarutobi sighed, but nodded.

"While it doesn't provide us with a lot of information, this is still useful." Hokage looked and Kin and at her scratched forehead protector. "Unfortunately, I can't completely be sure that this is not a kind of trap set by Orochimaru or that you are telling us the truth, you'll have to see Ibiki-san tomorrow." Konoha's 'professor' saw how poor girl paled when he mentioned interrogation specialist. "Don't worry though. He will treat you as a potential ally, not as a captured enemy." Kin allowed herself to let out a sigh relief.

"I understand, Hokage-sama."

"I'm sorry, but this will be the only place for you to stay this night." Kin nodded. "Good." Aged Hokage turned his eyes to one of the ANBU. "Lion, please, escort this young lady to the room 404 at I&T department of ANBU." Lion laid his heavy hand on girls shoulder.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." And two of them disappeared via shunshin.

*******

Three days before Konohagakure no Sato would hold finals of chuunin exams, early in the morning people in the village not far from 'Great Naruto bridge' saw big gray toad with someone, hidden by the morning mist, on its back approach the coast of the island. Toad leaped on the top of water surface past the village towards a bit isolated house where Tazuna the bridge builder and his family lived. The toad leaped around small forest and then emerged from the water at the beach just right in front of Tazuna's house. Man that up to now sat on the toad's back jumped onto the ground.

"Thank you, Gamaryo." Man said to the toad.

"**You better be, Naruto.**" Gamaryo croaked back. "**You know how much we don't like salty water.**"

"Yeah, I know. If you want, there is lake not far from here." Naruto replied.

"**That'd be most helpful now... I suppose, I can go now.**" Toad croaked and, after blond jinchuuriki nodded to it, leaped away.

"To business now, I guess." Naruto muttered under his breath. Suddenly he felt something scaly touch his leg. Looking down, he saw brown lizard with a message scroll on its back. "Oh, Yugito-kun sent me a message? Let's see..." Naruto took the scroll and opened it. "I'm becoming famous." Young jinchuuriki mused aloud: Yugito was congratulating him on passing first two tests of chuunin exams. Naruto quickly composed the reply to his Kumo friend and gave it to the lizard. Reptile nodded and ran away. "OK..." Sighing, Naruto walked to the door of Tazuna's house and knocked on the door, hoping that someone was awake. He hears swearing from that side of the door. Yeah, someone was awake.

"...wants something this fuc..." Bridge builder opened the door and stopped in the middle of the sentence. "Oh, Naruto-kun, you decided to pay us a visit?"

"Yeah, something like this." Young jinchuuriki replied. "Can I come in?" Old man nodded.

"Of course. Do you want something to eat? Tsunami-chan should be finishing the breakfast by now." He said. Naruto shook his head.

"No, thank you. But I'd like to have some tea."

"OK, I go tell Tsunami-chan to make some for you." Tazuna said, before walking to the kitchen. Naruto entered the house. And he could already see Nami no Kuni returning to prosperity in this house, even if it wasn't much time since Gato's death...

"Oh, Naruto-kun, good morning." Tsunami peeped out of the kitchen. "What brings you here?"

"Morning..." Blond shinobi entered the kitchen and sat in the empty chair there. "Sorry, but can I trust your hospitality for some more time?" He asked.

"But, Naruto-kun, you are the hero of the Wave! Of course you can!" Tazuna exclaimed.

"Thank you. I just have a feeling that something awful will happen soon in Konoha and old sage, the seer, from Meboku mountain had a similar vision. I wanted to set a beacon seal here, in the Wave, just in case I or my friend will need to escape from Leaf. Can I do this? Just for one person." Naruto explained his reason for coming to the Nami no Kuni. Well, the other reason then to see, how the country was doing after being freed by his team not a long time ago... "Plus I wanted to see how you all are doing."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun, after Gato's death our country is prospering once again." Bridge builder replied. "Where do you want to place your seal?"

"I saw a good rock not far from you house on the beach. I think, that will be the place." Tazuna nodded.

"Then I see no problem, go ahead." Blond jinchuuriki stood up and bowed.

"Thank you."

* * *

Sun was setting down when Naruto finally finished drawing and readying the transportation beacon seal and protective seal over it, so that the main seal won't be damaged by rains or anything like that. Blond shinobi looked over his work to make sure he did no mistakes.

"I finally did this." He said to himself with a sigh... It was already late in the evening, so he decided to spend the night here. But he didn't want to cause any problems to Tazuna's family, so he opted for sleeping under the stars. And a really good place to spend night at just popped into his mind. So young jinchuuriki walked to the hill where graves of Zabuza and Haku were. The graves themselves were the Kubikiri Houchou in stone crust for the swordsman and three stone crossed 'senbons' with stone garland lying on them where they connected. Naruto bowed to both graves and then summoned sleeping bag from one of his scrolls. "Zabuza, Haku, goodnight."

*******

Naruto jumped down onto the road from the trees. Gates of Konohagakure no Sato were not even three hundred meters from him. After dusting himself from the long run, he clamly walked towards gates guards' booth.

"Halt! State your name and business in Konoha." Izumo called, following the protocol.

"Naruto Uzumaki, genin of Konohagakure no Sato, returning from training outside village walls." Chuunin laughed.

"Good. You can pass, Naruto-kun." Blond jinchuuriki nodded and walked into the village. "Oh, wait!" Izumo suddenly called. "Hokage-sama wanted to see you as soon as you return to the village. He said, it is something very important." Naruto nodded.

"Thank you." Then he jumped to the rooftops and ran towards Hokage tower. Soon, Blond shinobi entered Sarutobi's office through the window: Naruto knew for sure that old man had no visitors at this time and would be glad for some distraction from that 'damned paperwork'...

* * *

"Oh, Naruto-kun, I take it that Izumo passed my message to you." Sandaime Hokage said from behind of paper piles as young jinchuuriki entered his office.

"True. So, old man, what is that important thing you wanted to talk with me about?" Blond asked. Hokage sighed and moved pile of documents aside.

"Well, Naruto-kun, while you were training with Fukasaku-dono, several important things happened here, one of them being ex-sound ninja asking for a refugee..." Blond jinchuuriki looked at old man curiously. "You know her, Tsuchi Kin, ex-genin of Otogakure no Sato. The reason she is the runaway ninja right now is that she overheard Orochimaru's plans. I won't go into the details as they are mostly not the for a genin's ears... Anyway, Orochimaru plans to attack Konoha some time during the finals of chuunin exams. What I want you is to house Kin until I can find a better place for her."

"But I live the unsecured apartment house!" Almost yelled Naruto.

"Exactly." Hokage said. "This would be the last place one would look for something really important. If you know that your enemy has something extremely important you need to retrieve, where would you look for it in the first place? Of course at the places that you think are the most secure." Naruto nodded, now understanding old man's logic.

"I see. So it's in a way like hiding something in the plain sight." He mused. Sarutobi nodded.

"Yeah, in a way. So, what do you think about the plan?" Young jinchuuriki smiled.

"Not like I have many choices. Let's go with it." Hokage nodded again and called single ANBU with a flash of chakra.

"What do you want, Hokage-sama?" Badger-masked ANBU asked.

"Can you bring Tsuchi Kin from room 108 at T&I department of ANBU here?" Old man said.

"Right away." And with a small bow ANBU left the office in the whirl of wind and leaves. Just a little more than a minute later Badger returned via shunshin with Kin. Girl change a lot since Naruto saw her last time: her knee-long hair were now made into single braid; instead of ninja gear she was wearing simple black T-shirt and blue skirt. Kin was carrying a bag with, as Naruto assumed, her personal belongings.

"Good evening, Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-san." Girl said almost emotionlessly.

"Evening, Kin-kun." Old man greeted in return. Then he turned to the ANBU in the room. "You are dismissed, Badger." Man nodded and left Hokage's office. Sarutobi turned his attention back to Kin. "I asked to bring you here because you are finally moving into your temporary housing. You will be living with Naruto-kun over there until Orochiaru is dealt with. Do you have any objections?" Old man asked. Kin shook her head.

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Then you two are dismissed... Oh, just a piece of advise, Kin-kun. No matter how much you do want to see the finals, please, stay indoors. We don't want Orochimaru hunting you down, do we?" Girl nodded again.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Sarutobi nodded and turned to Naruto.

"Would you mind showing Kin-kun where you live?" Blond jinchuuriki nodded.

"Follow me, Kin-chan." He said to the girl and started walking out of the office. Kin flushed pink from the friendly way he addressed to her and followed him.

"Yes, Uzumaki-san." Naruto gave her a smile.

"You don't have to call me like that. Naruto or Naruto-kun are OK."

*******

It was ten in the morning, two hours until finals of the chuunin exams start. And one Uzumaki Naruto was walking to the stadium at a leisure pace. And why wouldn't he: the morning was great and he wanted to enjoy it for as long as he could. After all soon he will have to go through brutal fights with other exam participants and, if old man Hokage was right, forces of snake-sannin Orochimaru as well. Plus he was now living together with Kin and to tell the truth, they didn't trust each other that much, which made it not that easy to get along...

**_ 'Number seven... They are here.'_** Young jinchuuriki suddenly heard Kyuubi talking to him.

_ 'huh?'_ He concentrated a bit and felt that too. Fuu and Shichibi were somewhere not far from him. _'Yeah, you're right, Kyuubi-chan, they're here.'_ Blond replied with his thoughts. Suddenly he felt a fast movement behind his back. Naruto spun around only to...

"There you are, Naru-kun." ...Only find himself in a friendly hug from tanned kunoichi of the Hidden Waterfall. Well, because Naruto was still shifting into fighting stance, hug went a bit past 'friendly' as blond's head found its place at the crook of Fuu's neck, one of his palms landed on her waist and their chests were pressed together. "Aren't you a little young for this, Naru-kun?" Teal-haired girl whispered in his ear, trying with all her might to suppress her blush and to sound even one bit serious.

"Wha?!" Naruto immediately jumped back, blushing crimson. He, being rather cognizant about what boy and girl can do together - Jiraya, Kakashi and Kyuubi-chan to blame, of course, knew what she was implying... But he also understood that Fuu was joking. "Don't sneak at me from behind like that!" Girl pouted.

"And not even one 'Hello'?" She smiled then. "Well, it's really my fault, I guess."

"You came to the Konoha to see the finals?" Naruto asked her. "Oh, and nice to see you again." He added then with a smile.

"Yeah." Fuu replied. Then her face darkened as she continued. "Try to fight your best: I don't want the money I paid for the ticket to be wasted." Blond shinobi gulped and nodded.

"I plan on winning the tournament!" He exclaimed.

"That's good to hear." Fuu smiled friendly. "I knew I could rely on you." She then looked up at the sun. "We still have about hour and fifty minutes before your exam starts. Why don't you show me around the Konoha then? I have never been here before." Naruto nodded.

"Really, why not? Let's go, then, Fuu-kun."

*******

Midday... Seven genins were standing in the middle of he arena of the Konohagakure no Sato stadium, ready to show everyone gathered there what they can do. The proctor of the third test of chuunin exams, Shiranui Genma shunshin'ed in front of them, facing tribunes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final battles of chuunin selection exam that are held here, in Konohagakure no Sato, this year." Jounin announced with jutsu-amplified voice. "Before we start, I'd like to make an important announcement. As Dosu Kinuta from Hidden Sound village was found dead several days ago, there are some changes in the fights. The first match will be between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji, both from Hidden Leaf. It will be followed by the fight between Uchiha Sasuke of the Konohagakure no Sato and Sabaku no Gaara of the Sunagakure no Sato. Third match will be between Sabaku no Kankuro from Hidden Sand and Inuzuka Kiba from Hidden Leaf. The final fight of the first round will be between Nara Shikamaru of the Konohagakure no Sato and Sabaku no Temari of the Sunagakure no Sato." Genma said.

"Hey, loser, where is Uchiha prick anyway?" Kiba asked Naruto. Blond jinchuuriki looked at him with unreadable expression on his face for several seconds before replying.

"Like I know, Dog-breath." Kiba glared at him.

"Make sure to defeat Hyuuga, so that I will be able to crush you personally, loser." Naruto said nothing.

"Now, everyone, please, listen." Genma addressed to genins. "The arena may be different, but the rules are the same as in prelims: there are none. The fights will go on until one of you dies, acknowledges defeat or I stop the match. Is that clear?" All seven genins nodded. "Now, the first fight, Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji, those two stay here; the rest of you go to the waiting room." As five participants of the exam walked away, Neji looked at his opponent.

"You want to say me something, don't you, Uzumaki?" He asked.

"Like I said during preliminaries, you're going to pay for your cruelty to Hinata." Jounin again performed the jutsu to amplify his voice.

"The first match between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji will start now. Hajime!" He announced and then shunshin'ed to the border of the arena.

"I'd like to see how you will make me 'pay'. From what I observed, you have just chuunin-level taijutsu, two types of useless clones and that weird shuriken of yours. You can't possible win against me with that." Neji said confidently.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but my specialization is ninjutsu." Naruto replied and Hyuuga genius suddenly was not that confident in his easy victory... But the fate was saying that he will win, so he didn't let it bother him.

* * *

"I have heard a lot about Hyuuga clan and this genin is certainly a promising one, but I never heard about anyone named 'Uzumaki Naruto', Hokage-dono." Man in white and blue Kazekage robes, complete with hat and white facial mask, covering most of his face, asked.

"Oh, this is rookie genin, who returned to Konoha just a little more than a year ago. No wonder you never heard anything about him, Kazekage-dono." Sarutobi replied. "You should watch this fight carefully: this boy may surprise you." _'Are you Orochimaru in disguise, Kazekage? You aren't exactly the way I remember you. I must stay on alert...'_ Hokage sighed. _'I wish I were decade or two younger... I'm getting too old for this job...'_

"I will, Hokage-dono. After all, for me this boy is an unknown quantity."

* * *

"Fate has decided that I will win this match. Forfeit if you don't want to be hurt, Uzumaki." Neji said, still confident in his victory.

"Let me tell you one thing. I spent eleven year living next door with the seer and learnt one important thing: the only fate everyone does share nor can run away for eternity is death. The rest depends on one's own actions." Naruto said. "And I also don't feel like giving up. We will fight!"

"So be it. Come at me with all you have and see that your fate is to lose to me." Hyuuga boy replied, getting into his juuken stance and activating byakugan.

"As you wish." Naruto replied, sitting on his hunkers and placing his palms on the ground. "This is the jutsu friend of mine taught me not a long ago. **Doton: Iwate** [Earth style: Stone Hands]" Rocks, sand, soil and dust enveloped his hands up to the elbows and then melted into rock-hard gauntlet with big claws on fingertips... Somewhere on the tribunes Fuu smiled: Naruto had the jutsu she showed him on a good level already... Neji looked at the blond jinchuuriki skeptically.

"Even after seeing firsthand what my taijutsu can do, you still want a close-ranged fight?"

"You'll see." Naruto replied, forming a sequence of handseals. "**Doton: dai-dochuu bakuha**!" He slammed his hands onto the ground and entire arena shook, good part of it turned into barely passable for normal human rocky wasteland. Neji was thrown into the air by the jutsu.

"And how are you going to 'make me pay' if hadn't even tried to attack me yet?" Hyuuga genius asked.

"You want to know? So be it." Naruto replied with a smirk, pointing his left hand at him. "**Ookuya**!" About half a dozen stone needles were shot at Neji. "**Fuuton: reppushou!**" Blond thrust his right hand forward, sending wind jutsu to both directly attack Neji and speed up stone arrows. Seeing this combo actually made Neji less sure in his easy victory: he really underestimated his opponent. But the fate was still on his side, he thought, so he had nothing to worry about.

"**Hakkeshou kaiten!**" Neji spun around, expelling chakra from his body and creating a shield around himself, deflecting both attacks, even if barely. "That was a good combo, Uzumaki." Hyuuga boy commented when he landed on his feet. "But not good enough to even wound me." And then Neji darted towards Naruto. "**Hakke hasangeki!**" He delivered chakra hit to the blond jinchuuriki's stomach.

"**Hageshii genko**!" Naruto called at the same time, thrusing his fist into his opponent's upper chest. As the result of this, they both were sent flying in the opposite directions... Naruto, thanks to his unparalleled stamina and helpful demoness sealed in him, was the first one to stand up. "This is damn painful attack." He mused aloud. His stone gauntlets were destroyed as he did lost the focus needed to keep them, so he summoned a packs of shurikens from the seals near his wrists...

"Oh shit!" Neji was lucky to be ready to fight before shurikens pinned him to the ground and made him unable to move. "**Hakkeshou kaiten**!" He deflected projectiles, leaving a circular hole in the ground. Oh, how he regretted performing this jutsu with at least seven of his ribs broken. But he had to show his opponent that if fate said he, Neji Hyuuga, will win the match, than he will no matter what...

"Tell you what, Neji, Hyuuga clan branch family aren't the only people in the world that have accursed seals. I may not know much, but there are at least eight, or nine, if Yondaime Mizukage is still alive, that had it in one way or another worse than you." Naruto said, reading himself to continue fighting.

"What do you know?!" Neji yelled angrily.

"Believe me, I know. We, eight or nine, all know. We may have it different: some are loathed, other looked at like they are nothing more than a soulless war machines in peoples' eyes." ...Somewhere on the tribunes certain teal-haired kunoichi shivered from the truth in Naruto's words; right now it may become better for her, but in the beginning... "Or some have to constantly fight for every bit of their sanity." Now Neji was looking at Naruto with slight interest. "Before you ask me, where do I know all this from, let me show you." Blond jinchuuriki lifted his jacket and T-shirt, showing his stomach to Neji. Then he channeled some chakra and one very complex seal appeared there. "What I wanted to say is that despite what was thrown at us, we fight against it to be what real us can be..." Naruto fixed his clothes back and got into toad taijutsu stance. "...You, on the other hand, are going adrift with all the crap that life give you, saying that this is your fate. Do you understand me?" Judging by the face of Hyuuga genius, which was showing great mental work, Neji understood. "But we still have a fight to do, don't we?"

"Yes we do." White-eyed boy replied before darting towards is opponents. This time Naruto, knowing how much damage Hyuuga's hit can deal, opted for catching both Neji's hands. But he still did the very same mistake Neji did in the beginning of the fight: he underestimated his opponent, which resulted in him being kneed to his stomach. While the hit was strong, it was nowhere strong enough to give Neji significant advantage in the fight: Naruto was back on his feet and ready to fight before Hyuuga genius could attack him again.

"And here I thought that juuken users don't attack with their legs..." Naruto muttered under his breath. Still, Neji heard him.

"As you said, one should fight against what life throws at him. So if you thought that I can attack you with my hands only, than I just have to use something else to gain upper hand in the fight." Neji said with a smirk.

"Good, looks like you are finally using your head in a right direction." Blond jinchuuriki replied with a smile. "Now, let see for real, who of us two is stronger." Hyuuga nodded.

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" Naruto fired his attack from almost point blank.

"**Hakkeshou kaiten!**" Neji again protected himself with his family jutsu. Both of them were send skidding back from the backlash of the jutsu colliding. Hyuuga boy threw three shuriken at his opponent, but Naruto easily evaded them, flashing through handseals for his next jutsu at the same time.

"**Doton: yomi numa!**" As blond jinchuuriki slammed his hands onto the ground, part of the arena turned into muddy swamp with stones and one caught off guard Neji Hyuuga sinking in it. Dark-haired boy pushed a lot of chakra into his feet to free himself from the swamp. "**Hageshii genko!**" The fact that he was trying to free himself, however, didn't mean that Naruto would wait until he is done to attack again. As Neji, that was sent flying into the rock, blond shinobi canceled his 'Swamp of the Underworld' jutsu and started running through handseals for another. "**Doton: kamiriyu no hitoya**!" As soon as Naruto finished his jutsu, Neji found himself caught and completely immobilized by the jaws of stone dragon head. He tried to destroy the stone by expelling his chakra, but failed as the dragon was powered by Naruto's chakra and seemed to be indestructible for him. After waiting for thirty seconds, Genma appeared in front of Naruto and Neji.

"As Hyuuga Neji is unable to continue fighting, winner of the first match is Uzumaki Naruto." Senbon-chewing jounin announced and tribunes exploded into applause. Naruto released both 'Doton: Kamiriyu no Hitoya' and 'Doton: Iwate' and walked up to Hyuuga boy.

"You should go see the doctor. I certainly did quiet a damage on you, especially your ribs." Neji nodded, fully agreeing with the blond. "Do you need my help?"

"I can walk on my own." Was Neji's reply. _'Now I can finally understand what you meant, Uzumaki. I hated not what I had a reason to hate, but the one who was just closest to me. I'm sorry, Hinata-sama. I will try to make it up for you for what I did.'_

"As you wish." Blond jinchuuriki said back and then started walking towards the waiting rooms. "And to think, I used almost half of my chakra in this fight. I need to be a lot more economic..." he mused aloud.

* * *

"Hokage-sama, Sasuke Uchiha hadn't shown up yet. Should we declare a technical defeat for him?" Asked a chuunin as he shunishin'ed into Kage booth.

"I think this would be..." Sarutobi began, but was interrupted by Kazekage's cough.

"Hokage-dono, I want to ask you a personal favor. I, like many other people here are to see the fight of the last Uchiha, so I don't think it would be wise to kick him out of the tournament right now. Please, postpone the match." Leader of the Hidden Sand said. Sandaime Hokage sighed tiredly.

"Though this goes again the exam rule 'everyone is equal', I think you are right, Kazekage-dono. We should postpone this match. But if Sasuke Uchiha doesn't show up when the first round of fights is over, he will get technical defeat." Old man said.

"I think this would be fair, Hokage-dono." Kazekage said with a nod. Hokage turned to the chuunin.

"Tell Genma-san that match of Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara is postponed." Chuunin nodded and left the Kage booth in swirl of wind and leaves.

* * *

"Since the match between Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara is postponed, the next match will be between Sabaku no Kankuro and Inuzuka Kiba." Genma announced. "Will these two come down to the arena?" He asked. Then he heard Suna-nin shouting.

"Proctor, I forfeit." Whistles, hootings and shoutings were heard from the tribunes.

"As Sabaku no Kankuro forfeited, winner of the match is Inuzuka Kiba. Next match will be between Sabaku no Temari and Nara Shikamaru. Will these two come down?" Genma announced.

* * *

Temari readily walked down, but Shikamaru seemed to be too lazy.

"What a drag... Maybe I too should forfeit?" Nara boy mused aloud, leaning onto the railing. Too bad for him, Naruto was near...

"Oh, Shikamaru, be a man! Don't run away!" Blond jinchuuriki said palming lazy boy to his shoulder. Somehow, this was enough for Shikamaru to lose his balance and fall into the arena.

"Damn Naruto... Troublesome blonds..." He muttered under his breath as he stood up from his fall.

"Finally decided to come here and fight me, pineapple-head?" Sand kunoichi asked mockingly.

"As troublesome as it is, it seems that I'll have to fight you..." Shikamaru said.

"Are you two ready?" Genma asked. Both genins nodded. "Hajime!" And then he shunshin'ed to the border of the arena. Temari immediately drew her fan from her back and opened it. Remembering what she could do with this thing, lazy genius immediately hid behind one of the rocks that were still there after Naruto's match. For next fifteen on so minutes Temari was trying to find her opponent by destroying rock after rock with wind jutsus. Finally, it seemed that Shikamaru had enough and decided to counterattack. He used his family jutsu and tried to catch Temari with his shadow, but Suna kunoichi just stayed out of his range, Or she thought so.

"What the fuck?!" She curse as her body suddenly became paralyzed, even though shadow in front of her couldn't reach her.

"Kage Mane, success." Shikamaru said as he stood up from one knee. "Let me show you." He turned his head like he wanted to see what was behind him, Temari mirrored his actions. And she saw shadow, coming from behind.

"How?" She asked. Nara boy sighed: it was just too troublesome to explain this.

"Simple. As you had already known, my family has control over shadows. That means I can morph my shadow anyway I want, including splitting it in two separate 'streams'... Troublesome..." Shikamaru walked forward and Temari, mirroring him, walked towards him. Genma shunshin'ed between them, ready to end this match. Lazy genius raised his hand, his opponent doing the same.

"I, Nara Shikamaru,.. forfeit."

"WHAT?!" Temari shouted. "Why?"

"I almost ran out of chakra fighting you... I have... dunno... enough to hold the jutsu for twenty seconds at most now... Yes, it was the real fight, you'd be defeated and, maybe, killed by now. But this is exam and I just have to show how I can fight. Plus one match is troublesome enough for me." Shikamaru said, releasing his shadow jutsu. Proctor sighed.

"As Nara Shikamaru forfeited, winner of the match is Sabaku no Temari."

* * *

Like before, chuunin of the Hidden Leaf shunshin'ed into the Kage booth.

"Hokage-sama, Uchiha Sasuke hadn't shown up yet. Should we count this as his technical defeat?" He asked.

"I think we..." Old man Hokage started, but again was somewhat interrupted by Kazekage.

"Can we give him some more time, Hokage-dono? I'm positive, people wouldn't be happy if the last Uchiha, whose match against ...my son they came to see, will be just disqualified." Wind Shadow said. Sarutobi sighed.

"All right, I will give him five more minutes. But if he doesn't show up during this time, he will be disqualified; he already receives too much of special treatment, Kazekage-dono."

"Five minutes it is then, Hokage-dono." Old man nodded.

"Tell Genma-san that Sasuke's match was postponed by five minutes." He said to the chuunin, who bowed and left the booth via shunshin.

* * *

Genma glanced at his clock. Ten more seconds. Seven... Suddenly a whirl of wind and leaves appeared in the middle of the arena and moment later Kakashi stepped out of it, accompanied by the one and only Sasuke Uchiha.

"Are we late?" Silver-haired jounin asked casually. Genma only sighed: no wonder Sasuke was late if was with this man.

"No, not yet. You had six more seconds..."

"Good." Kakashi said and then looked at young Uchiha. "I'll leave you now. Show Gaara what you learned in this month." Sasuke only made 'Hn' sound as his sensei left the arena via shunshin.

"As Uchiha Sasuke arrived, we will now continue with the postponed match." Genma announced with jutsu-enhanced voice. "Will Sabaku no Gaara come to the arena?" Moments later Suna-nin appeared near the proctor in a swirl of sand.

"Mother wants your blood, Uchiha." He hissed.

"Your 'mother' will only taste your own blood today." Sasuke said confidently.

"Are you two ready?" Genma asked. Uchiha boy nodded and activated his Sharingan while Gaara remover the cork from his gourd and smiled maniacally. "Hajime!" Senbon-chewing jounin said and then shunshin'ed to the border of the arena. Sasuke immediately jumped back and threw four shuriken at his opponent, trying his defense. Gaara's sand, of course, rose to protect its master, stopping all projectiles.

"**Katon: goukakyuu!**" Sasuke called, launching big fireball at Gaara. But Suna-nin's sand again acted as a shield, protecting Ichibi jinchuuriki from being harmed. But this was all dark-haired boy needed. He dashed with incredible speed around Gaara to where there was no sand shield and did roundhouse kick on his red-haired opponent, succeeding in penetrating sand shield that rose to stop him, but failing to do more than sending Gaara on the ground and creating crack on his sand armor. Suna ninja thrust his hand forward and sand, obeying his wish, wrapped itself around Sasuke's leg. Deciding that this prey was too interesting to fight against to kill it right away, Gaara's sand just threw Uchiha across arena.

"**Suna bunshin!**" Suna-nin summoned single sand clone and sent it to 'play' with Sasuke, who already regained his footing and was ready to counterattack. Using his advantage in speed, young Uchiha ran towards real Gaara, performing handseals for 'Katon: Gouryuuka' jutsu. Deciding, that his current defense wasn't good enough to let him go through the jutsu of this level unharmed, jinchuuriki of one-tailed demon started creating a dome of sand around himself. "**Daisan no me!**" He called, creating an sand eye outside his dome.

"Shit!" Sasuke hissed from pain as his fist connected with the sand dome. Who could have thought that sand can be as hard as granite? "Oh, fuck!" Only his Sharingan saved him from being impaled by the spikes that protruded out of the Gaara's dome. Sasuke ran around the dome, trying to find any weakness in it with his eyes, but found none. "Looks like the time to use this jutsu came..." Uchiha boy muttered under his breath. He ran to the wall of the stadium and up to the top of it. There he concentrated to gather needed chakra and then did three handseals. "**Chidori!**" He called as lightning lit up in his left hand. As soon as jutsu reached its peak power, Sasuke ran towards Gaara's dome faster that anyone ever saw him, leaving a trench, created by chidori, after him. As he came near the dome, sand spikes again tried to impale him, but he dodged them all and finally thrust his jutsu into the dome, successfully penetrating Gaara's ultimate defense and managing to wound Suna ninja. There was blood-freezing yowl coming from inside the dome... Fearing whatever was inside sand semi-sphere, Sasuke tried to pull his hand out, but found out that sand was holding it. Uchiha reactivated chidori and freed himself, immediately forced to jump back as far as possible to dodge enormous sand-gray monsterhand coming from inside the sphere, that tried to catch him. As it failed to do so, it retracted back into the dome, which shattered and fell apart, revealing completely crazy Gaara, thankfully barely standing, with deep wound on his left shoulder.

* * *

_'Time to start our little show.'_ Certain snake sannin thought, giving soundless the signal to Sound as well as Sand forces to start the invasion. Smoke grenade exploded in the Kage booth and at the same time everyone on the tribunes saw white feathers falling, forcing them to fell asleep. Though most if not all shinobi were able to break the illusion, this took some time from them and gave attacking forces small advantage...

* * *

...Seeing their brother and the ace of the operation hurt, Temari and Kankuro jumped down onto the ground of the arena and ran towards Gaara. No one even attempted to stop them as everyone down there was already busy fighting.

"We should take him away from here for some time. He needs to regain his strength to be useful." Suna kunoichi said and puppeteer nodded, picking Gaara up and placing him on his shoulder. Then trio of sand siblings dashed away from the stadium...

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**Read and Review**!!!

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_**AN**_: I have some troubles at university, so for the time being there will be no updates. Though I'll try to finish third chapter for "_**Pyro**_" ASAP.


	11. Invasion

Ho-ho-ho! Here I am with an early Christmas present for you, my dear readers! Here is the next chapter!

* **review response:**  
**Radomir Ravyinsky**, well, not really, but I do think that the stronger normal body is, the stronger sage body will be.**  
RogueNya**, **bumike99**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **ChaosLord SilverLink310**, **c im am a dragon**, **AvatarofDeath13**, **alice456**, **harlequin320**, thank you!**  
Skelo**, me? Shy away from lemons? Never. Though with the current plot I have, there will be no lemons (or even limes) until ...chapter 23+ I think. I might change my mind on this, but it's unlikely. **Lycan91**, same goes for your comment too.**  
Trooper0007**, Naruto/Yugito/Kin/Fuu I can make only as a spinoff. Maybe I'll make it from the spinoff oneshot lime I plan to write... And, most likely, not until I finish main plot line. Both Sasuke and Sakura will be dealt with later, believe it!**  
macabre-wolf**, umm... English, please?  
**Orange-Fuzz-Ball**, about '-kun' and '-chan'. I suppose, both can be used when addressing to a female friend.**  
Black Hearted Ninja**, OK.

* **jutsu list**:**  
Doton: iwate** - (B-rank) Earth style: stone hands - ninjutsu I created. After performing needed handseals user will place his hands on the ground or concrete and it will form hard-to-destroy gauntlets around user's hands. Unfortunately, this jutsu constanty drains user's chakra, while it is active.**  
Kuchiyose**** no jutsu** - (A-rank) Summoning - Time-space ninjutsu that summons object/animal (requers signed contract with that type of animals) to user's location**  
Shishienjin**** - **(B-rank) Four violet flames battle encampment – Creates a purple barrier around an area, those that touch it burst into flames**  
Kawarimi** - (E-rank) Change of body stance - substitutes user with nearby object**  
Doton: ****dory****uu**** Taiga -** (unknown rank) Earth style: earth flow river - Transforms the ground upon which the enemy stands into a river of mud to throw them off balance.**  
Sen'eijashu - **(C-rank) Hidden shadow snake hands - This jutsu allows the user to eject snakes from their wrist or sleeve, usually after a punching motion. The snakes are used primarily to attack from a distance and, being snakes, can inflict multiple poisonous wounds on the victim's body or hold them in place.**  
Katon: karyūdan -**(unknown rank) Fire style: fire dragon missile – User breathes a stream of fire from the mouth**  
Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.  
**Suna Shuriken -** (unknown rank) Sand shuriken – Shurikens that are made of sand, they cause blunt trauma rather than actual damage  
**K****age bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**Ame no shi**- (B-rank) Rain of Death - fuyunjutsu attack: user throws the 'Ame no shi' (just a time-freezing containment seal) up into the air, where it releases around one hundred kunai (or any other heave objects) with explosive tags attached to them. All explosive tags will explode at the same time, causing a lot of damage in the area.  
**Fuuton: reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - strong gust of wind sent towards his target. When acting in conjunction with another thrown weapon, the wind can increase its power and deadliness  
**Fuuton: renkuudan**** - **(unknown rank) Wind style: drilling air bullet – user draws in a deep breath, then the user punches its stomach to release a ball of compressed air and chakra  
**Senpou: kawazu naki**- (unranked sage jutsu) Sage arts: toad croak - After focusing Sage chakra to their throats, both Fukasaku and Shima sing, releasing large, loud, and immensely powerful sound waves that effectively annoy, distract, and temporarily paralyze the target completely.  
**Senpou: goemon**- (unranked sage jutsu) Sage arts: Goemon/Bath of Boiling Oil– 3 person team technique, oil is spit at the target, fire is shot at the target as well to light the oil and increase its damage and wind is blown out to increase the damage of the fire and the impact of the burning oil  
**Edo Tensei**** - **(S-rank) Impure world resurrection - Brings the dead back to life by sacrificing a living person. With a special seal the people brought back lose their free will. Damage done to those brought back is repaired, up to and including restoring lost limbs.  
**Shinra Tensei** - (unknown rank) Heavenly subjugation of the omnipresent God - The ability to manipulate gravity at the users will to repulse matter away, the damage depends on the amount of force put into it. The user must wait 5 seconds to use it again. Not proved, but can be special rinnengan technique.  
**Banshō Ten'in -**(unknown rank)Heavenly attraction of all of creation - The ability to manipulate gravity at the users will. The jutau draws things towards user. Not proved, but can be special rinnengan technique.  
**Shunshin**** -** (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu  
**Onipou: tama shaei** - (unranked demonic jutsu) Demonic arts: soul projection - this is a very special jutsu that allows its caster to create a manifestation of soul in the physical world. User can't project his own soul, but he can do this to any other soul that inhabits his body. User can control whether 'projected' soul can or can't do any jutsu (energy for them will be taken from projected soul's chakra/yoki reserves) and if it can, up to which level it can. Theoretically, all jinchuuriki and Tengu demons can perform this jutsu.

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This will be eleventh chapter of _**'Konoha's young Sage'**_, so, I think, some statistics for the first ten chapters are in order:  
52486 words total** /** 5249 words per chapter on an average  
243 reviews total **/** 24 reviews per chapter on an average  
79825 hits total **/** 7983 hits per chapter on an average  
399 favorites total **/** 40 favorites per chapter on an average  
496 story alerts total **/** 50 story alerts per chapter on an average  
the story is listed in 31 communities

**Thank you for reading my story, everyone!**

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Now, story time:

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'_**

**_

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_**Special thanks to **CloudBloodbane **for beta-reading this chapter!

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**Konoha's young sage**  
**Chapter**** 9: invasion**

Two Sound chuunin in a heavy armoring watched as teal-haired kunoichi with Waterfall hitae-ate dealt with an attacker.

"That bitch! She killed Sira-san! I'll rip her apart!" One of them shouted, ready to attack the girl.

"No. She's too hot to be killed that easy. I say we capture her and have some fun first." Another added. The first Oto-nin stopped and thought for a second.

"I like your plan more. Let's go get this bitch for ourselves!" And the two dashed forward with kunai in their hands, aiming for the girl's shoulders to render her arms useless. But the kunoichi easily ducked under their attack and planted her fists into men's guts. The Sound-nins did several clumsy steps back, but that was all Fuu's attack did. "You, bitch!" One of the men tried to attack again, only to have the kunoichi's foot connected with his chin. With a sick, audible crack his neck was broken. Fuu looked at the other man, her eyes becoming even more feral. Dust that was in the air suddenly was pulled towards her outstretched right hand and formed something like a gauntlet with two foot long blades on it.

"**Doton: iwate!**" The Kunoichi whispered in an evil manner, slowly advancing towards her enemy, whom she held frozen in fear with her killing intent. Without even looking Fuu blocked a pair of kunai that came in her direction somewhere from other sections of the stadium. Finally, she was just a step from the Oto-nin. "Fool. Leaf and its allies will never be taken over by scum like you." Next second two dust-made blades went through the man's heart. Fuu looked around. This section was clear of any enemies for the time being, but in the next section were three Konoha chuunin fighting a losing battle against four Suna jounin. Nodding to herself, the Shichibi jinchuuriki headed there to lend a helping hand.

*******

"Sasuke Uchiha, I give you an A-rank mission." Genma said, dodging a kunai from a Suna jounin named Baki. "You are to stop Sabaku no Gaara." The Dark-haired boy immediately agreed – finally he was given a mission an elite like him should be doing.

"Hai," With that Sasuke dashed in the same direction where the Sand siblings ran not a minute ago. But moment later he was forced to stop as Baki appeared in front of him.

"You ain't going anywhere Leaf boy." But before the man could do anything to Sasuke, Genma assaulted him with a barrage of shuriken.

"Run!" Nodding to the jounin, the last Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf continued carrying out his mission.

*******

Naruto and Shikamaru quickly ran towards the section where Kakashi was. They found the Silver-haired jounin defending several genins and knocked out by the genjutsu civilians alongside the 'Konoha green beast' Maito Gai.

"What will our mission be?" Naruto asked, ignoring Nara boy's whine of 'troublesome'. Kakashi was ready to send them to help with the evacuation of civilians when he spotted Sasuke running away from the stadium and after the Sand trio.

"You two, along with Sakura," The pink-haired kunoichi blushed a bit. ", will do an A-rank mission. You must stop Uchiha Sasuke." The copy-nin turned to Gai and 'green beast' nodded. "I'll summon Pakkun for you to follow Sasuke's trail"

"Don't Kakashi-sensei; you'll need all the chakra you have." Naruto stopped him. "Sasuke is going after Gaara, isn't he? I have someone, who can trail chakra – or yoki – signature and Gaara right now is in no form to perform high level cloning jutsus." Kakashi nodded and the Kyuubi jinchuuriki bit his finger to draw some blood and quickly ran through four handseals. "**Kuchiyose!**" In a cloud of white smoke gray a pigeon-sized toad appeared, with a strange metallic device on its back and complex goggles on its ...forehead.

"Ah, Naruto-kun... Wha do ya want?" The toad asked.

"Good afternoon Gamasora. I need you to trail the Ichibi's yoki. It's very important!" The toad moved its goggles onto its eyes and several seals on them began glowing dim blue.

"Ya, I can si'it. Follow me!" Gamasora jumped into the air and two bat-like wings appeared from the device on his back. Wind-based chakra flowed into the wings and sustained the toad in the air. "Oh, wait a sec! How wil'wi get past those?" The toad pointed at the fighting shinobi on the arena floor. The problem was solved a moment later when Gai sent poor a Oto-nin through the wall. The three ninja and the toad exited the stadium through this hole and started carrying out their mission.

*******

Before the smoke from the grenade dissipated, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato found himself on the roof with a kunai held to his neck by Orochimaru, who was impersonating the Kazekage. Quickly performing seal-less substitution, Sarutobi appeared behind his traitorous student. Just a moment before his throat would have being slitted. Orochimaru looked at the mud that was his sensei moments ago and turned around to face the Hokage, already in his battle robes. Deciding there was no more need for the masquerade, the snake sannin too threw away his kage robes.

"You're still not rusty, Sarutobi-sensei. But it doesn't matter, Konoha will be mine today. Kukuku, you will die by my hand." Orochimaru gave a sign and four Oto jounin appeared near the edges of the roof.

"**Shishienjin****!**" The four formed rectangular barrier of purple fire around the roof, preventing anyone from joining the fight between Orochimaru and Sarutobi Hiruzen. Moment later the Sound four created smaller barriers around themselves so that Hokage won't disrupt their jutsu.

"Clever... But you forgot one thing, my lost student." Sandaime Hokage said, flashing through handseals. "**Doton: doryuu taiga!**" A river of mud formed in front of him and tried to wash snake sannin away into firewall. Orochimaru, of course, got away from death by kawarimi'ing himself with a roof tile.

"**Sen'eijashu!**" Four thick snakes flew from his sleeve intent to kill Old man Hokage, but Sarutobi even at his sixty eight years was still a kage-level ninja.

"**Katon: ****Karyūdan****!**" The snakes were turned into ashes by the violent fire. The traitorous sannin evaded the flames and tried to perform **'fuuton: daitoppa'**, but was forced to kawarimi away from roof tiles turned into shuriken that were sent in his direction. Deciding that he needed to advance to the next level of the fight, Orochimaru bit his finger and spread some blood across the tattoo on his arm. In a cloud of smoke a seventy foot long snake appeared. Yes, this will give him enough time to prepare his next attack...

*******

Naruto and Sakura were running through the treetops, following Gamasora, trying to reach Sasuke in time – judging by the sounds they were hearing he had already engaged Gaara in a battle. Shikamaru was somewhere behind them, hopefully alive, ambushing six Oto-nins that tried to stop them. Finally the two of them reached the clearing where a partially transformed Gaara tried to kill Sasuke.

As his mission was completed, Gamasora unsummoned himself, creating a poof of smoke. This proved to be a distraction for the Ichibi jinchuuriki and Naruto landed a strong hit on Gaara's side, sending him into a nearby tree. Of course, the sand protected its master from the most of damage...

"Run!" Naruto yelled to Sakura, who landed by Sasuke's side. "I will fight him."

"Stupid dobe, I couldn't land a good hit on him, how can you possibly do anything to him?!" The Uchiha yelled. "And I don't need your help! I can fight!" He tried to stand up, but his body had other plans and didn't move quite as well. At this time Gaara came back into the fight...

"**Suna shuriken!**" A hail of sand projectiles was shot from his sand body in the direction of the three Konoha genins.

"**Kage bushin!**" Several shadow clones popped into the existence, creating a wall in front of the members of the team seven. "I said run!" Naruto yelled. Sakura nodded and picked Sasuke up, before disappearing into the canopy.

"**My prey!**" Gaara shouted in a demonic voice. "**I will kill you!**" There was another barrage of sand shuriken aimed at the blond shinobi, but Naruto kawarimi'ed away from them. "**I will fucking kill you!**"The crazy jinchuuriki stretched his sand-made demonic arm and swung it, crushing all nearby trees and barely missing his current target. Naruto reached into his pouch and took out a strange looking containment seal from it. Then he tied it to a kunai and threw the kunai high into the air. Not too far away both Sasuke and Sakura, along with Temari, wondered, what he was trying to accomplish by this move... Naruto did a single handsign and there was a large cloud of smoke in place of that seal with hundred or so kunai falling down, each with a bunch of activated explosive tags attached. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki jumped away from the clearing and watched as the kunai fell down.

"**Ame no shi!**" He whispered quietly and in the next moment whole clearing turned into a giant fireball from the explosive tags. When the wind blew the dirty smoke away, Gaara looked the worse for wear, but was still alive.

"**I will kill you!**" He roared and more sand came to him, creating a giant tanuki body the. true form of the Ichibi. "**I WILL KILL YOU!**" The beast roared, sending a wave of sand towards Naruto.

"**Fuuton: Reppushou!**" Naruto blew the offending sand away before jumping further from the mad tanuki demon. "**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" The jutsu hit Shukaku square on its stomach, creating a hole through it. But moment's later sand restored the beast to its original form.

"**IT HURTS!**" The Gaara-Ichibi roared, before unleashing more sand shurikens at Naruto, but the blond skillfully kawarimi'ed away from the attack.

'_What should I do, Kyuubi-chan?_' Blond jinchuuriki asked in his mind, not knowing what to do next against the beast.

'_**Call me forth. Together we will have enough power to stop Shukaku,'**_'. Naruto nodded to himself: this sounded like a plan.

'_OK, get ready, nee-chan_' He flashed through handseals, some of which weren't from the twelve seals all shinobi are taught. "**Onipou: tama shae...**" He couldn't finish the jutsu as he was forced to evade an incoming 'fuuton: Renkuudan'. Even if he dodged the projectile itself, the explosion it caused left him with a few minor wounds. '_I need sage mode..._' Naruto thought forming a cross-shaped handseal. "**Kage bushin!**" Two dozen shadow clones popped into existence, distracting Gaara so that the real Naruto could get away.

'_**Why don't you call me forth now?**_' Kyuubi asked her ...container. The blond shinobi just shook his head and pointed towards his two teammates that were watching the fight from afar.

'_We don't want our little secret to be discovered, do we?_' the demoness pouted.

'_**You're so paying me for this tonight.**_' Naruto didn't answer, instead calling his sage mode forth. Unsealing his three-bladed shuriken, he jumped back into the fight, just in time to see his last clone disappear in a cloud of smoke. Clicking it open, he threw the weapon towards Ichibi's arm. Then Naruto sent wind-based chakra through the chakra-string into the shuriken, making pale blue blades of five meter length each extend the metallic ones. The shuriken successfully severed the beasts arm, but it just grew back seconds later.

'_This is not good..._' The Kyuubi jinchuuriki thought, summoning his shuriken back into his hands and sealing it into its seal on his wrist. '_I need the elders._' Luckily or unluckily, he had some still fresh blood that came from the wound he received. Flashing through handseals, Naruto hit the branch he was standing on with his hand. "**Kuchiyose!**"In a big poof of smoke Fukasaku and Shima appeared.

"**I hope, you have a good reason for summoning us?**" Pa said. Then he heard Ichibi's roar and turned around to face the bijuu. "**Forget it. What do you plan to do? We are not equals to such a demon.**"

"It uses sand to regenerate any damage done to its body. Maybe we should somehow render the sand useless for it... Or better, we should push the beast back into Gaara." Naruto replied.

"**Gaara is the name of Shukaku's container?**" Shima asked. The blond shinobi nodded. "**For how long has he been in this state?**" The elder toad pointed at sleeping form of Gaara on the top of Ichibi's head.

"Four to six minutes." Naruto replied.

"**Then if we are lucky, all you need to do is to wake him up. Landing a good hit on him must be enough.**" Shima said sagely. "**And I think, I have a plan on how to do this.**"

* * *

Not very far away from the battlefield of the two jinchuuriki Sasuke was fuming. Not only does Naruto have something he didn't have – a summoning contract – but he used it to summon to useless, old toads instead of some mighty fighter like the toad boss Gamabunta. If only he had this kind of power, he'd show the dobe how it should be used, Sasuke thought.

Sitting by his side, Sakura was thinking along the same line about why Naruto summoned these two toads. But deep inside her rational mind, there was a thought that the blond had a reason for what he did.

* * *

Finally Naruto stopped running circles around Shukaku, winning some time for Shima to explain her plan.

"Can you distract it for several seconds? I need to reenter my sage mode." The blond jinchuuriki asked. The toad elders nodded in response and leaped down to the ground, landing just in front of Ichibi.

"**Senpou: ****Kawazu Naki****!**" Fukasaku and Shima simultaneously sent sage-chakra empowered sound waves into Shukaku, throwing it backwards a bit, paralyzing it for a brief moment they needed to get away to return to Naruto, who was already back into his sage mode. As soon as all three of them were close enough, they all ran through handseals.

"**Senpou: ****Goemon****!**" Naruto exhaled toad oil, Fukasaku produced strong wind and Shima supplied the attack with fire. Together it was a river of fire that was quickly advancing towards the slow and clumsy body of Ichibi. The moment the hot burning oil touched its legs, the sand began melting, preventing the Shukaku from moving.

"**Do it now, Naruto!**" Shima shouted, but the Kyuubi jinchuuriki knew what he needed to do: again he unsealed his shuriken and then summoned a single shadow clone. Two Narutos threw shuriken – with wind-chakra blades extended – at the Ichibi's arm, cutting them off again. The Beast roared angrily and began regenerating his lost limbs. "**Naruto, do you still have that seal, 'Ame no shi', with you?**" The blond shinobi nodded – he used only one out of two he had made. "**Use it on Ichibi's stomach.**"

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" The sage-powered jutsu easily tore a hole through Shukaku's body. Before the sand could 'heal' it, Naruto threw the kunai with the second 'Ame no shi' seal, activating it when it was in the hole. Seconds later the Beast's body was torn in two by a tremendous explosion. It let out another roar of pain, before its body started falling apart.

"**This is our chance!**" But Naruto didn't need to be told this, he was already advancing towards Gaara's body – he needed to reach it before his sage mode deactivates, or else... who knows. As he was right in front of Shukaku's jinchuuriki, Naruto hit him. The sand that rose up to protect its master couldn't withstand the power of the Sage's attack. The moment his fist connected with Gaara's face, the Suna-nin awakened and created sand spikes that went right through blond's body, thankfully missing vital organs.

"**I will have your blood!**" Gaara roared. But in the next moment he received two sage-powered hits from the toad elders and before he could regain control over his sand to crush Naruto's body, the Kyuubi container was gone. "**I will kill you!**" He roared and started looking for his prey.

* * *

Fukasaku and Shima laid Naruto onto the thick branch of a tree about a hundred meters away from the raging Gaara.

"**You have to retreat, Naruto-kun. Even with the help of your vixen the wounds you received could prove to be fatal, if you don't receive medical help as soon as possible.**" Pa said and Ma wholeheartedly agreed with him, which was a rare event...

"But who will... stop Gaara?.." Blond shinobi said with a strain. "Everybody else... is already... busy protecting... the village..."

"**I said you must retreat NOW!**" For the first time in his life Naruto saw Fukasaku angry. But he needed to defeat Gaara no matter what... So he reached into his pouch and produced a single dirty-green pill in a plastic box. "**Wha... You... Thickheaded stubborn tadpole! Don't even think about using it! You are in...**" but Naruto already swallowed the pill, "**no condition to use it...**" Chakra exploded from blond jinchuuriki's heavily damaged body.

'_Hey, nee-chan... I need your help. Heal me! Please..._' Naruto asked in his mind.

'_**I will. But you are paying me trice for it.**_' The vixen responded, making the blond sigh.

'_You want to keep me with yourself all the time, don't you? I need to live outside of my mind too, you know?_' He threw back.

'_**Well... If you don't want...**_' But Kyuubi was far from stupid and knew how to get something for herself in any situation.

'_No, no... It's not like that!_'

'_**As I thought**_' her red yoki joined with Naruto's chakra, accelerating his regeneration a thousand-fold. Bleeding holes in his body, where the sand spikes hit him began closing, the blood he lost was replenished, and broken bones were knitted back together... While Gaara now knew where his prey was, thanks to the yoki spike, the toad elders kept him away from it, sending him flying away with their 'Kawazu Naki' each time he got too close to Naruto... Finally, almost seven minutes later a malnourished looking Naruto sat up weakly. All his injuries were healed, but it left his body incredibly weak – this was the price for regeneration. And immediately the toad elders began ranting about how stupid he was...

"**What were you thinking?! You could have died!**" But the blond jinchuuriki tuned them out and began collecting natural energy to enter his sage mode one more time. When Fukasaku noticed it, it was too late to stop the stubborn blond. He was already heading towards Gaara.

* * *

The Ichibi jinchuuriki looked at Naruto, not really understanding how this boy was standing, and even more, how he is ready to engage him in a fight again.

"**Your blood will be the best proof of my existence, Naruto Uzumaki.**" Gaara said with his demonic voice. Although he wasn't showing it, he was tired from the fight... 'If this Uzumaki boy had at least one more ace in his sleeve... He might lose the fight for the first time in his life... He was afraid of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki...' Naruto looked at him with determination to win, trying to stand levelly on his legs.

"I will defeat you." Then the blond shinobi flashed through handseals. "**Fuuton: Reppushou!**" Sand rose up to protect Gaara from the attack, but made him lose Naruto from his sight. And the Kyuubi jinchuuriki did disappear from his sight. One second... another... and one more... There was neither any sign of the incoming attack nor any sign of the blond himself. Then suddenly Gaara felt himself pulled under the ground till only his head wasn't below the surface. Several moments later Naruto rose from the earth, like it was water. Concentrating on his prey, Gaara sent his sand towards him, only to receive a yoki- and chakra-suppression seal on his forehead. Gaara tried to continue fighting, but found he was unable to do so.

"Why?.. Why are you so strong?!" He almost yelled at the blond who seemed to be standing only by his sheer willpower.

"What you fighting for?" Naruto asked back.

"I fight and always have fought for myself..." Gaara replied in a cold voice, but he was interrupted.

"That is the reason. When you fight just for yourself, you have no need to go past your limits. When you fight for something or someone precious to you, you will do anything to protect them." Naruto said, almost falling down, thankfully, a tree trunk was close to him and he could lean on it.

"I have nothing precious to me besides myself." The Ichibi jinchuuriki replied. "And I have no one to fight for except for but myself."

"What about your brother and sister?" The Blond shinobi countered. "Sure, they are afraid of you, but still they see you as their brother." This made Gaara think a bit. But it didn't seem to change his opinion.

"They hate me." He replied coldly.

"Are you sure? Maybe you should ask them yourself." Naruto said without looking around. Just a second later Kankuro and Temari appeared by their brother's side, looking angrily at the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. He looked back at them. "Hey, someone needed to put some sense into him!" The Suna kunoichi was still glaring at him.

"If you did something to my otouto…" She began, but Naruto cut her off.

"He is fine. His sand is the strongest and most annoying defense I ever came across. Thankfully, it doesn't treat suppression seals like a threat." Gaara looked at his sister.

"You're... defending... me?" Temari smiled warily.

"Who else is my otouto there?" Naruto used this to prove his position more.

"See? Just keep your tanuki at bay and at least two people will love you. You're very lonely, aren't you?" Gaara thought for some time. Then he nodded. All the time completely ignoring Kankuro's yells about not adding him to the list of Gaara's friends without his approval.

"I see... Temari, Kankuro, free me. Then we are heading back to Suna." Three minutes later the Sand trio was ready to go home. "I will remember you, Uzumaki." Then Gaara did something that neither of his siblings expected him to do ever again. Gaara said 'Thank you'.

* * *

Still unable to move properly because of chakra – and chidori – overuse, Sasuke with a scowl on his face watched as Gaara left the battlefield. He failed his mission. Worse, the dobe managed to beat this Sand guy when he, an elite Uchiha, could barely draw blood from him. And to add to the insult, the blond idiot allowed Gaara to go free, when he could of easily killed this abomination...

*******

Sarutobi had just disposed of the snake Orochimaru had summoned. Hell, even with Enma, the king of monkeys, help, fighting such a big snake in a limited area was hard...

"**Edo Tensei**" Hokage looked at the coffin that was slowly rising through the roof, and he felt afraid for the first time in this fight: something extremely strong was in this coffin... "You know, sensei, first I wanted to give you a chance to fight all the previous Hokage..." Now Hiruzen was afraid for real. "...But one of my sacrifices died before I could make any use of it. So I decided to stick with those two senseis of yours… I must have been overheard by my other sacrifice. By the way, do you know where Kin-chan is? Anyway... with only one sacrifice left, I decided to give you a chance to fight the man who can be called a teacher of every shinobi in the world! Isn't it great, Sarutobi-sensei?" Coffin opened and a body that was inside stepped out. It was a large man in dark-gray samurai-like clothes. He had rather long, spiky gray hair and wore a necklace of six '9' on a thin silver chain. In his right hand there was a battle staff and a long katana was strapped to his back. But the most extraordinary thing about this man was his eyes. They lacked iris, instead having four black rings around pupil. The man looked around.

"So, this is what happened to the world... Not exactly what I wanted it to be, but my teachings weren't buried under the sands of time and it's enough for me..." The man said in a sagely voice.

"Orochimaru!" Sarutobi yelled at his traitorous student. "You... You dared to summon him?!" Snake sannin only smiled sinisterly.

"You are right, Sarutobi-sensei, this is the Sage of Six Path, the father of all jutsu! And I gave you a great honor to fight him." Orochimaru turned to the Rikudou Sennin. "You are to kill this old fool. But you'd better toy with him first." Sage turned to the snake sannin and measured him with his eyes.

"I will not fight him." This made traitorous sannin lose his cool.

"I said fight him!!!" Orochimaru yelled, pushing more of his chakra and his will into the mind-control seal in Sennin's head. There was a long silence.

"...Yes." The Sage of Six Paths turned towards Sarutobi and outstretched his left hand towards Sandaime Hokage. "**Shinra Tensei!**" He said in a calm voice and moment later invisible force hit Sarutobi hard, almost sending him into the firewall. Regaining his footing, Hokage flashed through handseals.

"**Katon: ****Karyūdan****!**" Hiruzen exhaled a stream of fire towards the Sage, but the man did nothing to evade his attack. When the fires almost hit him, they were simply absorbed, dealing no damage at all. Rikudou Sennin eyed his opponent for a brief moment, before sending another 'Shinra Tensei' towards the man. Though this time Sarutobi was fast enough to create a mud wall to protect himself from the devastating power of the Sage's jutsu. "**Kage bushin!**" The Hokage summoned two shadow clones, ordering one to attack Orochimaru, while he himself and the other clone will try to fight against the Rikudou Sennin.

"**Shinra Tensei!**" This time the Sage put a little more force behind his attack and the jutsu had enough power to destroy the shadow clone even after turning the mud wall into dust. Truly, this man was a God. "**Banshō Ten'in****!**" Sarutobi felt himself pulled towards the man, as he was pulled his shadow clone tried attacking Orochimaru. Two Hiruzens hit each other and the cloned one was destroyed, but being close to the Sage of Six Path allowed Sandaime to place an explosive tag on the man's stomach. "**Shinra Tensei!**" Landing just several feet from the firewall, Sarutobi activated the tag. An explosion completely destroyed the lower part of Rikudou Sennin's body, but just a second later it began restoring itself.

'_So, physical damage will do nothing... Looks like I will be forced to do that jutsu..._' Before Hiruzen could continue on his train of thoughts, he again felt the pull of 'Banshō Tenin' and used a chain to hold himself in a place. Who knows what the Rikudou Sennin can do? But the Sage tripled the force he was using and Sarutobi's old body couldn't withstand it. The Hokage's left arm was torn away. But something happened to the Sage too.

"Where am I? What is going on?" It looked like seeing the blood made Rikudou Sennin overcome the effects of the mind-controlling seal Orochimaru placed in his head.

"Why did you stop?! I ordered you to kill this man!" Sannin yelled. Unfortunately for him, the Sage didn't want to work with him, but before he could unleash the full power of 'Shinra Tensei' at the snake sannin, there was explosion in the Sage's head. The man's body didn't restore itself this time. "Stupid Sennin," Orochimaru cursed the man. "Thank god I placed an explosive tag as a safeguard in his head." The traitorous sannin glared at Hiruzen. "Kukuku... You won this round, but what will you do next, now that you have only one arm, eh, Sarutobi-sensei?" Then Orochimaru proceeded to summon the Kusanagi sword from his stomach. Sandaime Hokage answered by elongating the staff that was a henge'd Enma.

*******

Fuu heard the second explosion on the roof behind the firewall. Looking up she saw the man she hated most for what he did to her village. After all, only Orochimaru was insane enough to create those beasts he unleashed at Hidden Waterfall. And seeing the condition Sandaime Hokage was in, Shichibi jinchuuriki had to admit that the old man was losing the battle. Sarutobi Hiruzen needed help, but that damned firewall prevented anyone from interfering with the battle. Or did it? Fuu quickly ran through in her head what was needed to maintain a barrier. First, it needed the source of energy, but as the Sound four was surrounded by the same firewall, taking them out was not an option. Then a barrier needed to be created on a stable surface.

'_That's it!_' It was strange that no one had used this weakness of barriers to help Hokage during his fight. '_I can have my revenge against Orochimaru!_' Calling upon the power of the seven-tails, Fuu created a protective 'cloak' of yoki around her right hand and then slammed it into the tower, making it shake. And as the tower shook, at least two of Sound four lost their footing, thus the barrier of purple fire was no more. Fuu alongside two ANBU squads rushed towards Orochimaru, intending to kill him, but the man was no fool and knew that now if he stayed, his chances to survive will be equal to zero.

"We are leaving!" The Snake sannin ordered. The Jounins of the Sound four nodded and disappeared via shunshin. Orochimaru tried this too, but at the last moment dust blades of Fuu's gauntlet pierced his liver. The girl tried to petrify sannin's organ, but succeeded only partially as she was thrown away with a strong hit from the man. Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the people who came to save him and said 'thank you' weakly, before collapsing onto the roof unconscious.

"**I suggest you give him medical treatment as soon as possible.**" Enma said. "**Sarutobi-dono did receive several wounds from the kusanagi sword. He very well may be poisoned.**" As the ANBU nodded, the king of monkeys disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

This is all for now. Till next time, guys!


	12. Godaime Hokage

Hello, everyone. Here is the next chapter of "_**Konoha's young sage**_".

* **review response**:  
**eclipseX**, **Lycan91**, **ChaosLord SilverLink310**, **Dark Hearted Dragon's Master**, **Trooper0007**, **Irishfighter**, **raw666**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **c im am a dragon**, thank you!  
**RogueNya**, soory, but old man Sarutobi already (almost) played his role. He won't be... Oops, no spoilers! =)  
**Bikiluf**, what I meant by 'weak style' is that it lack any special offensive or defensive moves is mostly like a base from which shinobi can develop his own style. As it is, academy style is well rounded in both offense and defense, but isn't anything special in either department, sorry, if confused you. ...Naruto's personal henge and its impact on the plot... not sure, but it may be. or may not...

* **jutsu list**:  
**Shunshin**** -** (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu  
**K****age bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.**  
Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.  
**Fuuton: reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - strong gust of wind sent towards his target. When acting in conjunction with another thrown weapon, the wind can increase its power and deadliness  
**Fuuton: renkuudan**** - **(unknown rank) Wind style: drilling air bullet – user draws in a deep breath, then the user punches its stomach to release a ball of compressed air and chakra**  
Doton: yomi numa** - (A-rank) Earth style: swamp of the underworld - This jutsu creates vast swamp. If someone happens to be where the swamp is created, he will sink and, if swamp is deep enough, may be killed.  
**Doton: kamiriyu no hitoya** - (B-rank) Earth style: rising dragon prison - and yet another jutsu I created. This ninjutsu created a dragon head that captures and immobilizes target from below. Can be cut with **chidori **or **raikiri**, but other than this, it is almost unbreakable from inside.**  
Katon: goukakyuu **- (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales fire from his mouth.**  
Senei jashu - **(C-rank) Hidden shadow snake hands - This jutsu allows the user to eject snakes from their wrist or sleeve, usually after a punching motion. The snakes are used primarily to attack from a distance and, being snakes, can inflict multiple poisonous wounds on the victim's body or hold them in place.  
**Rasengan** - (A-rank) Spiral sphere - rasengan is a tight ball of compressed fast-rotating chakra (or yoki) that does tremendous drilling damage.  
**Kaze no yaiba** - (A-rank) Sword of wind - cutting wind.  
**Kebari senbon** - (unknown rank) Thousand hair needles - hardened hairs that are launched at the opponent.  
**Gogyou fuuin** - (A-rank) Five elements seal - This is a fuuinjutsu technique. User forms an elemental seal on each of his fingers, one for each of the following five "elements": water, metal, earth, fire and wood. This seal disrupts chakra control of its target and makes jinchuuriki unable to communicate with his/her bijuu.  
**Fukumi hari** - (unknown rank) Hidden needles - user summons poisoned needles in his/her mouth and then spits them towards the target  
**Doku kiri** - (B-rank) Poisonous mist - user exhales poisonous gas from his/her mouth. this jutsu can be use as an offensive move, or to cover maneuvers.  
**Katon: gamayu endan** - (B-rank) Fire style: toad oil projectile - this jutsu is done in partnership with a summoned toad. The toad provides oil to fuel fire user exhales.  
**Tsukiyomi **- (S or S+ ranked bloodline jutsu) God of the moon - this is special genjutsu that requires active mangekyo sharingan in left eye to be cast. Tsukiyomi will create space within target's mind and trap target here. User of the Tsukiyomi will have full control over this space, including some control over time. Mostly done to torture people (up to 72 hours in the world of Tsukiyomi in the span of 3 seconds in the real world)

* **other words**:  
kasa - bamboo hat like those Akatsumi members wear.  
dosu - yakuza sword.

_**AN**_: Yugito will reappear in the next chapter, don't worry.

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'_**

**_

* * *

_**Special thanks to **LR-35 SRX **for beta-reading this chapter!

* * *

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 10: Godaime Hokage**

Naruto opened his eyes to the reddish light of the evening sun. He was – not surprisingly – in the hospital. Though, the fact that he didn't remember how he got there made him a little nervous. He looked around and saw bear-masked ANBU standing on guard in the corner of the room.

"Um... ANBU-san, can you tell me, what happened to me? And why are you stationed there? – I'm not that important to have guards while at hospital."

"You were found about an hour after last enemy troops in the village were taken care of on the side of the road in about mile from western gates of the village. You were unconscious, for three days, and suffered both physical and chakra exhaustion. Doctor said it's miracle you were still alive when you were found." Naruto nodded.

'_Looks like it was not the best idea to open fifth gate with chemicals after all..._' Kyuubi jinchuuriki thought. "And about my second question?"

"There was a sign of Kyuubi's yoki being used. I'm stationed here in case demon tries to take over you. I am to be near you all the time until council decides what to do with you." Naruto immediately got a bad feeling about the whole thing: good part of the council had problems with seeing him as a separate being from Kyuubi-chan, and all of them saw her as an evil entity instead of a victim of Madara's Tsukiyomi.

"What happened to Sa... Hokage-sama?" Blond teen asked.

"Hokage-sama was severely wounded during his fight with Orochimaru and was unconscious since then." ANBU answered.

'_Even better. Without Old man council are free to do anything they want. Let's pray that Sarutobi-jiji will wake up soon..._' Naruto thought. Having all his current questions answered, even if it surprised him that he was given all the information he wanted to know, and seeing that it was already evening, he decided to go back to sleep and allow Kyuubi-chan and his own powers continue repairing his body.

*******

At the same time in a dark underground complex on the border between Fire and Rice countries certain sannin too had problems: his partially-petrified liver wasn't working good enough to keep him alive. He was slowly dying, and neither he himself, nor his best medics could do anything with it. Of course, Orochimaru could just take over a new body for himself, but he felt that it was too early to do so... So snake sannin was planning to use the help of the best medic in the world of shinobi.

"Kabuto!" He yelled. Moments later silver-haired teen appeared in his chamber, now wearing Oto hitae-ate on his forehead.

"Yes, lord Orochimaru." Kabuto said, not bothering to bow even a little.

"I need to find my old teammate. Prepare for the at least month-long trip: it will be hard to find her if she doesn't want to be found." Teen nodded and disappeared into the shadows of the room. '_I will be healed. And you, Tsunade, will do it, whether you want it or not!_' Orochimaru tried to laugh, but his liver again reminded him why he needed medic...

*******

"By unanonymous voting of the honorable council of Konohagalure no Sato, Jiraya of the sannin will be proposed to take the position of Godaime Hokage. Now, to our next question." Elder named Koharu said. "I propose promotion of Sasuke Uchiha to the rank of chuunin due to his exceptional performance during invasion." There was a murmur among councilmen.

"I second!" Shouted one of the civilian members of the council.

"I am against promotion of Uchiha Sasuke." Nara Shikaku said lazily. "All reports say that Uchiha-san failed to stop jinchuuriki of Ichibi no Shukaku. What was his 'exceptional performance' if he even failed his mission?"

"Nonsense!" Another civilian councilman yelled. "Who else could save us from that monster?!"

"Troublesome." Muttered Shikaku. He did not want to argue with these fools. Not today. Several next minuted there was loud arguing between members of the council.

"Order!" Koharu said and in seconds everyone became quiet. "Who is placid for the promotion of Sasuke Uchiha to the rank of chuunin, raise you hand." Both elders, Danzou, entire civilian part of the council and heads of two minor clans raised their hands. "And now those who isn't." Only seven clan heads voted against Sasuke's promotion.

"By the unanonymous voting of the honorable council of Konohagakure no Sato, Sasuke Uchiha is promoted to the rank of chuunin." Homura, second elder of the village, announced. "And now our final question for today. You may enter." Doors opened and blond boy in hospital gown entered the chamber with bear-masked ANBU following him closely behind.

"Do you know, why you are brought in front of the honorable council of Konohagakure no Sato?" Koharu asked. Naruto shivered, understanding full well what was going on, but decided to play along with them for the time being.

'_**Don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt you.**_' Demoness reassured him.

'_I know, Kyuubi-chan._' "I suppose, it has something to do with the events that took place during the invasion?" Naruto asked.

"True, it has." Konoha elders nodded. "You are charged with releasing Ichibi no Shukaku upon our village. Also you are charged with the attempt of releasing Kyuubi no Yoko upon our village. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

"I repudiate your first charge against me as no one, even those with genetical inclination to control bijuu, like Hashirama Senju, cannot control them when they are sealed in something or someone, and it is officially know that container of Ichibi is Gaara of the Sand." Naruto saw several clan heads nod. "I also repudiate your second charge against me as any attempt of releasing Kyuubi from the seal Yondaime Hokage placed will result in death of both me and the Kyuubi." While this wasn't entirely true, as the seal will kill both parties if and only if their intents aren't right, but no one other than Naruto and his demoness knew this... And not needed to know this.

"But there was a release of Kyuubi's yoki, care to explain it?" Danzou asked.

"Kyuubi is known for incredible regenerative abilities. I used a miniscule part of Kyuubi's power along with artificially opening my own fifth gate to heal life-treathening wounds I received during my fight with Sabaku no Gaara." Naruto explained.

"Now, what should we do with this case?" Koharu asked councilmen and councilwomen.

"Execute it!" Shouted one of the civilian councilmen. "Kill it before it kills us!" Several more fools agreed with the speaker.

"I say you should give him to me. If retrained correctly, he will be the weapon Konoha needs now more than ever, weapon of the unimaginable power, absolutely loyal to the village." Said Danzou. Small portion of civilian councilmen and one clan head agreed with him.

"There were rumors about organization of S-rank missing-nins hunting jinchuuriki down. I say, that we banish him from the village and thus kill two birds with one stone: neither he nor this organization will be threat to Konoha." Added Homura. Entire civilian part of the council as well as several heads were in favor of this.

"I doubt that this organization isn't going to do something evil." Shikaku said. "And if we banish Naruto, we are just handing Kyuubi jinchuuriki to them." Heads of major clans and Danzou nodded in agreement.

"So, let's start voting on this question." Koharu said. "Those in favor of execution, raise your hands." Most of the civilian councilmen voted. "Now, those in favor of banishment, raise you hands." The rest of civilians and two clan heads raised their hands. "Those in favor of turning Kyuubi jinchuuriki into living weapon, raise your hands." Danzou, elders and a head of minor clan raised their hand. "Finally, those in favor of releasing all charges and leaving Kyuubi jinchuuriki be as he is, raise your hands." Only eight clan heads raised their hands.

"By unanonymous voting of honorable council of..." Koharu began, but was interrupted, as doors were forcefully opened and Sarutobi Hiruzen, accompanied by eight ANBU entered the chamber. Sandaime Hokage looked awful. He was sitting in wheelchair, dressed in the hospital gown, left sleeve of which was empty. Sarutobi looked pale and at least decade older than he was. But still, his aura of leader coupled with the killing intent he was releasing was enough to make everyone acknowledge, despite everything this man was Hokage.

"As an acting Hokage, I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, veto the decision of the council on this question and release all charges you put against Uzumaki Naruto."

"But, Hokage-sama..." One stupid civilian councilman tried to protest, but small increase in killing intent Sarutobi was releasing was enough to shut him up.

"Also, this council meeting was conducted without Hokage, even if he was in the village and not unconscious at the moment. I may see this as an act of arbitrariness from your side and arrest you for breaking rules of the village. Unfortunately, we have other matter to worry about right now. But next time something like this happens, you all will be severely punished." Sarutobi growled, before adding. "This meeting is adjourned." Naruto walked towards Hokage.

"Thank you, you saved my life there..." Blond boy paused for a moment. "But this was the second time this village betrayed my trust in it. When the third time happens, I will leave. And I give you my word as a sage: you won't be able to stop me or bring me back. Remember it." And then he walked out of the council chamber.

*******

Next day Naruto was lying in his bed in hospital, when small orange toad leaped onto his chest.

"Oi, Naruto, do you have some sweets?" Blond shinobi looked at the toad.

"I'm at hospital, there are no sweets there. Ask Jiraya for some, it was him, who sent you here, Gamakichi?" Toad nodded. "What does he want?"

"Um... He said... Oh, yeah,.. He is leaving village tomorrow morning for a trip to find someone named Tsunade and asks if you'd like to join him." Naruto thought that this was his change to have some time away from Konoha.

"Tell him, I'm coming." Gamakichi nodded and leaped away from Naruto.

* * *

Naruto sneaked out of the hospital early in the morning next day and, after packing the gear he might need during this trip with perverted toad sage, he sped towards western gates of Konoha. To his luck Jiraya was waiting for him there.

"Ready to go, gaki?"

"Yeah, let's go!" Naruto replied. And two sages left Konohagakure no Sato... They were good hour away from the village when Kyuubi jinchuuriki suddenly remembered something. "Um... Jiraya-ero-sensei, do you know Hyuuga's kaiten?" Sannin ignored his 'title' and nodded.

"What about it?"

"Well, it was good enough to deflect and damage stone spears. So I thought, if it is possible to shrink it in size, say, make it not bigger than orange, and compress the chakra in it, it can become a good offensive move: small ball of chakra that can do drilling damage." To show what he was talking about, Naruto tried to create small ball of rotating chakra on his palm, but it blew away not a second into its existence. Jiraya was really surprised.

'_Like father like son. Minato invented his rasengan thinking in exactly the same way._' White-haired man thought. "There is such a jutsu, Naruto, though it was never completed. Your father invented it not long before he became Hokage. This jutsu is named rasengan."

"I heard this jutsu name before. But I never found out what this jutsu was." Naruto said, making Jiraya laugh.

"Of course, you couldn't find what this jutsu was! Minato though about it as his family technique, though he taught it to me. Kakashi Hatake may also know rasengan – he might have copied it with his sharingan eye." Older toad sage said. "But this is all. Do you want me to teach it to you?" Naruto though about it for several seconds.

"I reinvented the idea and I'd like to reinvent the jutsu itself." White-haired man nodded.

"As you wish. But remember, it took your father three years to create this technique, and it took me six months to learn it from him." He paused. "But if you ask nicely, I may give you some pointers."

"Yeah, thank you." Naruto replied, still intent to recreate rasengan on his own.

*******

Naruto and Jiraya were traveling for six days now and neither succeeded in his plans: white-haired toad sage still found no traces of his teammate, sannin Tsunade, and Kyuubi jinchuuriki still had problems with keeping a tight ball of chakra from exploding in the first second of its existence – it was like centrifugal force had something against rasengan... Two sage stopped at local inn and Jiraya went to visit some bars to listen to gossips in attempt to learn at least about where Tsunade may be. Naruto stayed in the inn, trying with the help of his Kyuubi-chan solve his current problem with recreation of rasengan. Suddenly blond jinchuuriki felt someone approaching his room. And that someone was clearly not a friend.

'_I don't like this at all. Without Jiraya I can't drive away anyone above A-rank. And at least one of those two is S-rank._' Kyuubi agreed with him. Naruto felt the pair stop in front of his door and got ready to attack them and then run. Someone knocked on the door and in the next moment it was demolished by something big, wrapped in bandages. In the corridor there were two S-rank missing-nins, Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, both in black cloaks with red clouds and both had kasa on their head. '_They must be from that organization council were worried about._'

"Good afternoon, Naruto-kun. I'd be glad if you will come with us on..." Itachi never got a chance to finish as smoke bomb, thrown by Naruto, exploded under his feet. Kyuubi jinchuuriki threw two kunai with shock tags – seals that converted stored chakra into electricity and stroke anyone in small radius with a powerful discharge of this electricity – towards two missing-nin not really caring whether his attack hit them or not, and dashed towards the window. Naruto ran towards the outskirts of the small town, checking his equipment.

'_Two vacuum seals, ten explosive tags, one more shock tag, two kunai in pouch, seven in seals, twelve shuriken, reel of steel wire, another smoke bomb, my shuriken, three soldier pills and a gate-opening pill. Three empty scrolls, brush and ink well._' Nothing much against two S-rank missing-nins, Naruto had to conclude. '_I hope I can last long enough for Jiraya to find me._' He though, stopping in the field where they could fight without fearing to harm civilians...

"Interesting seals you have there, Naruto-kun." Said a voice from behind. Turning around, blond jinchuuriki saw that Itachi and Kisame already found him. What was that he thinking with, when he hoped to outrun two S-rank ninjas?

"This jinchuuriki has rather fast legs. I say we cut them." Shark-man named Kisame said, placing his giant ...sword on his shoulder.

"Pein-sama said that we are to bring him alive." Itachi said, looking at his partner.

"But I won't kill him! Just cripple." Kisame responded. Uchiha sighed.

"It won't be necessary." He looked into Naruto's eyes and the blond saw that normal three-tomoe'd sharingan Itachi had moments ago transformed into something that looked like black three-bladed shuriken. "**Tsukiyomi!**" Naruto saw real world replaced with black and white illusive with only full red moon settled on the sky. For a moment nothing happened. Then avatar of Itachi appeared with long katana in its hands. Giant cross started rising from the ground behind Naruto, but before anything else could happen, spear of fire hit Itachi's avatar's head, destroying it.

"**You are so paying me for saving your pretty ass.**" Said Kyuubi's voice before world Naruto saw returned to normal. Nothing changed during the time failed tsukiyomi was active. Nothing, except for some more blood that was leaking out of Uchiha's left eye. Naruto immediately flashed through handseals.

"**Kaze no yaiba!**" A pale-white arc of wind was launched from blond's hand towards two missing-nins. Itachi, even in this close proximity from Naruto, managed to jump away from the jutsu's path. Kisame on the other hand just placed his sword in front of him and it ...consumed the jutsu, making strange sounds and tumbling after that. From Naruto's point of view, Kisame's sword was a compositions of many scales that could somehow absorb chakra. Scales... That's it! If Kisame wasn't after him, he'd thank shark-man for the idea strange sword gave him.

"Hey, easy there! If you want to be in one piece after we capture you, you better not throw jutsu like this at us." Kisame said, baring his sharp pointy teeth. He got his response as Naruto, after dodging low-level genjutsu from Itachi, flashed through another sequence of handseals.

"**Doton: kamiriyu no hitoya!**" Kyuubi jinchuuriki said and a dragon made from really hard stone rose from underneath Kisame, capturing him in its mouth. Naruto saw man's sword start sucking chakra out of the stone dragon, but it will take some time before the stone will be brittle enough to be broken easily.

"**Katon: goukakyuu!**" Itachi sent fireball at Naruto, but the teen evaded it, attaching explosive tag to one of his kunai at the same time. The blond threw kunai with the tag at still captured Kisame, but Uchiha's own kunai saved Shark-man. Another fireball later, Kisame was free.

"I will kick your ass, brat!" Blue-skinned man roared, but before he could do anything, earth shook: big toad with some kind of forked weapon and large shield land in the field.

"**Good afternoon, Naruto-kun. I am to protect you from these two, am I?**" Gamaken asked, readying himself for a battle. Jiraya on his back too got ready to fight with Itachi and Kisame. Shark-man bared his teeth, too ready to kick some ass, but his partner had another plans.

"We should fall back now, Kisame." Itachi said. "With Jiraya of the sannin there we have no guaranties of our mission being successful." Kisame looked discontent, but agreed with Uchiha, and two missing-nins left the field via shunshin.

"**Looks like my service there is not needed anymore.**" Gamaken said. "**Have a good day, Jiraya-kun, Naruto-kun.**" And he disappeared in a big poof of smoke. Naruto walked towards Jiraya, who, judging by a lipstick on his left cheek, worked really hard to find traces of Tsunade.

"You found something?" Blond jinchuuriki asked. Surprisingly, white-haired self-proclaimed super-pervert nodded.

"Tsunade was there about month ago. She left the town through northern gates, so now she is most probably is somewhere in the Grass or Bird countries – they have best casinos."

"Then we should go there as fast as possible." Jiraya had to agree with the teen: Tsunade was hard to track and if they found her trace, it's better to follow it while it's still relatively fresh.

*******

It took Jiraya almost two more weeks to localize his teammate's location... Currently two toad sages were walking through small town, surrounded by rice fields, in the Bird country. It was almost noon and Jiraya decided to stop in the tavern for lunch. But as soon as he entered the building, he stopped dead on his tracks. And started laughing madly.

"What happened?" Naruto asked and white-haired sannin pointed at blond woman with two pigtails sitting in the dark corner along with short-haired brunette.

"After all searches it took just a bit of luck to find her." Jiraya finally answered, calming down. He walked towards the table where Tsunade sat and coughed to make her notice him. "Can I sit with these two pretty ladies?" He asked. But that didn't impress female sannin at all.

"What do you want, Jiraya?" She asked in not exactly friendly tone. Naruto too walked to that table and sat there along three adults.

"I'll get straight to the point, then. First, Sarutobi-sensei was poisoned by Orochimaru and we all want you to save him." Tsunade looked rather impassive about this and Jiraya noticed it.

"Our snake-loving friend already told you about sensei, didn't he? " White-haired sannin asked and his teammate nodded. "He wanted you to heal his liver?" Another nod. "What did he proposed you in return?" This time Tsunade answered nothing. There was a short pause before female sannin spoke:

"And what is the second reason you are here, Jiraya?" Older one of two toad sages paled a little: Tsunade might not like this. And if she doesn't like something, things may become really painful.

"Well... Council wants you to take position of Godaime Hokage." Blond woman didn't show any reaction at first. Which in Jiraya's opinion was a bad thing. Then the hell broke loose...

"What sane person would want to be Hokage? Out of four of them three died in a battle and the last one is an old goat, who might join them really soon..." Before she could continue, Jiraya and dark-haired apprentice of Tsunade named Shizune had to restrain Naruto as the blond jinchuuriki looked ready to rip female sannin into tiny pieces. "What's wrong with you, blondie?"

"I don't know what's wrong with you, woman, but you just said that my father was a fool, as well as your own grandfather, granduncle and your sensei!" Naruto shouted. "They all did their best to protect people they carried about and say they are fools?!" Tsunade looked at the boy.

"Yes. They were fools. Especially your father. He was the biggest fool out of four." She got what was coming when Naruto's pupils became slitted and he broke free from Jiraya and Shizune. Thankfully for Tsunade, her inhuman strength was enough to stop jinchuuriki's fist. "I don't have money to pay for the damage we might do to the bar, so let's settle this outside." Naruto had to agree with her there – if they were to fight, it was better to do outdoors.

* * *

"So, blondie, why are you protecting those naïve fools called Hokages?" Tsunade asked Naruto as they walked outside of the tavern. "I may understand protecting your father, but the rest?"

"Hokages were and are the people who live and die in order to protect people of the village. They are heroes!" Young jinchuuriki replied. Blond sannin sneered.

"You words aren't working on me. Maybe your fists will have better effect?" With his mind Naruto understood that he stood no chance against Tsunade as she was one of the sannins, S-rank ninjas, but he was angry enough to just ignore it and fight. He produced a shock tag out of his pouch and then attached it to the kunai he unsealed from his hand. Seeing knife with unfamiliar seal thrown at her, female sannin decided that it would be better to get away from it, but her infamous luck, or, better, lack of luck, were still with her and the tag went off before she got out of its range and she got shocked. Kyuubi jinchuuriki decided to use this moment for as much as possible and launched six shuriken at his opponent, but Tsunade wasn't one of the sannin for nothing and dodged this attack with no problems.

"**Fuuton: reppushou!**" Blond kunoichi was forced on defensive again as a dangerous gust of wind fleed past her too close for her comfort. Deciding to end this fight before she was attacked with more nasty jutsu, Tsunade dropped from Naruto's sight, reappearing right in front of him. To her surprise, the boy managed to dodge her punch and caught her wrist. What a mistake... She moved her arm up, sending Kyuubi jinchuuriki soaring into the air. The she understood her own mistake: Naruto had wind affinity and now could easily attack her from above. And he did that. "**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" Tsunade jumped out of the jutsu's path and hit the ground, making it split where Naruto would land moments later.

"Looks like I win." Said female sannin walking towards Kyuubi jinchuuriki who struggled to get out of the crack he landed into. "But you are good for Hokage-loving gaki. Almost made me fight you half seriously." She said "You gave me some entertainment so I won't even take your money." Tsunade added, dropping on the ground Naruto's wallet she picked while attempting to punch him.

* * *

For the past three days Naruto and Jiraya stayed in this town. Old pervert did several more attempts to persuade his teammate into becoming Hokage or, at least, into coming to Konoha to heal Sarutobi-sensei. But all his attempts were in vain. Another reason why Jiraya stayed was the fact Orochimaru will visit Tsunade again. And as his liver was half-petrified, he was far from his prime and could be killed. In the morning of the forth day everyone minus Tsunade slept in, most likely due to some medicine blond sannin added to their food. This all meant that she wanted to deal with Orochimaru on her own... She too was naïve after all: even if it hurt Jiraya's pride greatly, snake-loving freak was the strongest one among three sannin in one on one fight. And he, most like, won't be alone too.

"We need to find Tsunade-sama quickly." Shizune said. Then she turned to Tonton, pet pig. "Can you trail Tsunade-sama?" The pig gave out affirmative grunt and sped into the rice fields, followed closely by three shinobi. It took them about fifteen minutes to arrive to the battlefield, and when they did arrive, there already was a fight between Tsunade and Orochimaru and his right hand Kabuto. And female sannin was losing... Shizune immediately sped towards her master to heal her wounds.

"Oh, why didn't you say that your sacrifices will arrive on their own?" Taunted snake wielding sannin. Then he turned to the new arrivals. "Nice to see you, Jiraya, Naruto-kun." White-haired toad sage answered him by flashing through handseals.

"**Kebari senbon!**" A hail of hardened hair was sent at Orochimaru, but the man dodged them easily.

"Looks like I'll have to use it then." He bit his finger to draw some blood and spread it over tattoo on his left hand then. "Kabuto, get here at once!" There was explosion of white smoke and two giant brown snakes appeared. Jiraya and Naruto nodded to each other.

"**Doton: yomi numa!**" They called simultaneously, creating deep swamp under the snake, which started sinking into the mud. Naruto started another sequence of handseals while Jiraya dashed forward.

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" Blond jinchuuriki launched his attack, forcing snake-loving sannin and his henchman to evade it.

"**Rasengan!**" White-haired sannin pushed tight ball of spinning chakra into Kabuto's stomach. "One down, heh." But while Jiraya was busy putting silver-haired teen out of fight, Orochimaru got behind him.

"**Gogyou fuuin!**" Snake sannin placed the seal onto Jiraya's body. "Looks like we will fight one on one, Naruto-kun." Three mud clones of the man rose from the ground at immediately attacked young jinchuuriki, who produced several shadow clones to fight them. The real Orochimaru dashed towards Shizune and Tsunade intent to deal with them while Jiraya is out and Naruto is busy.

"**Fukumi hari!**" Tsunade's apprentice summoned several poisoned needles into her mouth and spit them at advancing snake-wielding sannin. But he dodged them with no problems and summoned kusanagi sword from his stomach. Shizune moved her sleeve up, showing senbon launcher attached to her hand. She the launched five poisoned needles from it, along with another attempt at hitting Orochimaru with 'fukumi hari'. Unfortunately for her, all needles were deflected by sannin's sword. As he got close enough, dark-haired girl attempted to used another jutsu from her arsenal. "**Doku kiri!**" She breathed out dark-purple poisonous mist...

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" But it was easily blown away by Orochimaru's wind jutsu. Snake sannin raised his sword, ready to stab the girl through her head, but Tsunade pushed her apprentice away and got the sword through her shoulder instead. "So, you care for someone still alive after all." Traitorous sannin said. "But you're still out of luck: I see no problem with killing you first." He started the sequence of handseals when something – Naruto's vacuum seal – pulled him backwards. This provided an opening for Tsunade and moments later Orochimaru received an incredibly strong punch right into his stomach, sending him flying. Blond sannin removed kusanagi sword from her shoulder and threw it after its owner, in the end nailing him to the ground through his liver.

"Are you OK, Orochimaru-sama?" Asked Kabuto, who finally recovered from being hit by rasengan, appearing by his master's side.

"It could have been better." Replied snake-wielding sannin, returning kusanagi back into his stomach. The battle of this level was taking toll on him... He looked around: Naruto was busy fighting one remaining mud clone, while his kage bushin tried to remove 'gogyou fuuin' from Jiraya's back. Shizune was healing her arm, that was broken when Tsunade saved her life. Blond sannin herself was healing the wound on her shoulder. It was a good time for the attack. "**Fuuton: renkuudan!**" Tsunade could see that she had no chance in dodging this jutsu – it way to powerful to do that at such a close range. But before the ball of compressed wind could reach her, Naruto appeared in its way, placing Orochimaru's own mud clone as a shield in front of him. Jutsu exploded at contact with mud clone, sending Kyuubi jinchuuriki fly right into Tsunade. "**Senei jashu!**" Snake sannin called, but Naruto rolled himself and Tsunade away from the advancing snake. He threw a kunai at its head then, killing it. There were no attacks from Orochimaru coming. Something was wrong.

"Jump!" Naruto suddenly yelled as he received a memory from his shadow clone: while smoke from the explosion covered him, Orochimaru summoned snake boss Manda and made him to attack from underground. Earth shook moments before giant jaws of the snake boss broke through the surface. Tsunade got lucky and was fast enough to get away from Manda's mouth. Naruto was not. Or... Wind jutsu tore through downside of snake's snout and Kyuubi jinchuuriki jumped through the hole. Manda dove back underground, barely evading giant blade of Gamabunta's dosu. Naruto appeared by Tsunade's side, along with Shizune, just a moment before blond sannin summoned the head of slugs, Katsuyu.

"**Katon: gamayu endan!**" Jiraya called, performing fire jutsu of incredible power alongside with Gamabunta, but they again missed Manda as he returned back underground. Suddenly toad boss leaped high into the air and threw his dosu to Tsunade. Just as he landed, Manda attacked him from underground, but Gamabunta caught him. Female sannin then nailed snake boss to the ground through his head with 'Bunta's dosu. There was a big explosion of white smoke, as Manda unsummoned himself.

"You won this time, but Konoha will fall from my hand one day." Said Orochimaru sinking into the ground. Kabuto left the battlefield some time before his master... Gamabunta and Katsuyu disappeared in the giant poofs of white smoke too. Tsunade looked at Naruto then.

"Why did you save my life risking your own?" Kyuubi jinchuuriki smiled.

"It is my task to protect future Hokage!"

"I don't know, what makes you think that I will accept the position..." Female sannin turned her head to her apprentice. "...But now I understand, what you meant, saying about heroes, who protect people they carry about. Maybe I am a fool too, but call me Hokage-sama from now own."

*******

Eight days later two sannin and their apprentices entered Konohagakure no Sato. Next morning Tsunade visited hospital. There she woke Kakashi and Sasuke from tsukiyomi-induced coma – these two too ran into Itachi. Than she visited her sensei... Sarutobi Hiruzen looked awful. He was as pale as a ghost and looked like he was at least hundred years old instead of his sixty eight.

"I'm sorry, sensei, but it's too late." Tsunade said after performing diagnostics on Sandaime Hokage. "At this stage even I can't save you. You have only six, maybe seven days left. I'm sorry..." But Sarutobi managed to last eight and a half, before leaving this sinful world... On the next day after his funeral Tsunade was named Godaime Hokage, fifth great fool as she called herself jokingly...


	13. The end of winter: part 1

* **review response**:  
** Says-**, I answered your question in a PM.  
**naknaras**, sharingan can see chakra (proof was given in the fight between Sasuke and Deidara). For a jutsu like rasengan that is based on the pure chakra control, sharingan will see HOW you NEED TO control the chakra. you WILL still HAVE TO MASTER this chakra control, though. This means, if you don't have either an army of shadow clones or a spare year, you won't be able to LEARN to perform rasengan after 'coping' it with sharingan.  
**eclipseX**, **c im am a dragon**, **crazymexican**, **god of all**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **Lycan91**, **spiritwolf32**, **Elfen Sky**, **Salamander Hanzo**, thank you!  
**Wyrtha**, intended hime? Yugito, you mean? Well... read and see, what can I say =) And Fuu will return into the story (later, much later...) and she will play an important role in the whole mess.  
**Trooper0007**, **bleacher**, and here I though that I said in the 'AN' in the previous chapter... NOW she will - temporary - be back.  
**Rezuvious**, **Score89**, I know. I'll try to correct those mistakes in the future.  
**The Purple Critic**, I need to stage conditions for Naruto and Yugito to be together. It will take... 7-9 more chapters I think - then for the 15 or more they will be together...

About sannins: **Tsunade **is a medic, she isn't frontline fighter. She has no ranged attacks (except summoning and Katsuyu's acidic spit isn't counted), but with her strength, is she can come close enough to you, you either dodge her hits, or you're dead. Still, Tsunade is the weakest fighter among the three. **Jiraya**, yes, is the strongest, even without his sage mode, but he isn't strongest fighter: he is a way too noble and fight using only his strengths. **Orochimaru **on the other hand, while a bit weaker, is a sneaky bastard, who fights using his opponents' weaknesses. Because of this, Orochimaru usually will defeat Jiraya, while against unknown (for them) S-ranked opponent Jiraya with succeed with much greater chances.  
Does this answer your question about (my) sannin ranking, **naknaras**. After all, the story is AU, can't I change sannins' canon ranking a bit?

*** Jutsu List:  
Kuchiyose no jutsu** - (A-rank) Summoning - Time-space ninjutsu that summons object/animal (requers signed contract with that type of animals) to user's location**  
Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.**  
Fuuton: ****kaze no yoroi ****Kaze no yaiba** - (A-rank) Sword of wind - cutting wind.**  
Fuuton: reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - strong gust of wind sent towards his target. When acting in conjunction with another thrown weapon, the wind can increase its power and deadliness**  
H****yoton: tsubame fubuki** - (unknown rank) Ice style:Swallow snow storm – the user creates and controls a cluster of ice needles in the shape of miniature swallows, which the user throws at the opponent, the wings may be utilized to cut the opponent**  
Hyoton: ****h****yōrō**** no jutsu **– (unknown rank) Ice style: Ice prison - allows the user to infuse their chakra in underground ice and bring it to the surface. The user can then trap their opponent within the ice by controlling its movements and completely surrounding them in the ice. Can double as a defence for the user by freezing him/herself, strong enough to withstand basic fire jutsu**  
Katon: ****hi no Kama **– (B-rank) Fire style: Fire scythe - creates a scythe made of fire, to launch at the target  
**Suiton: ****s****uiryūdan** - (B-rank) Water style: water dragon projectile - this is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Water Element. The ninja does a long string of hand seals which then causes a column of water in the form of a dragon to rise from the water and then strike their target.  
**Raiton: ****hiraishin - **(unknown rank) Lightning style: sparking electric needle - ninjutsu that shocks a target with a bolt of electricity. Target must be either in direct physical contact or through any conductor  
**Onipou: Katon: ****byoki - **(unranked demonic jutsu) Demonic arts: fire style: flame cat - demonic ninjutsu that creates a large feline from fire. The cat will attack any target user specifies, but will disappear once the target is destroyed. Target can't be changed, but the jutsu may be canceled.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'

* * *

_**

Special thanks to _**CloubBloodbane**_ for beta-reading this chapter!

* * *

And, thank to everyone for **100 000+** hits!!!

* * *

**Konoha's young sage**  
**Chapter**** 11: The end of winter. Part 1**

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke exited the cinema after watching the film about Princess Fūn's adventures. Yeah, the film was great and everything, but why they needed to watch it neither of the genin or the chuunin could understand. And, of course, Kakashi-sensei was late to meet them...

"What was the point in watching this film?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki asked once again. "I don't think we will work with anyone from the film, but why else then?" No one had an answer... Team seven looked around once again hoping to see their chronically late sensei, but, no luck... Suddenly they heard some horses approaching and several seconds later none other than actress Yukie Fujikaze rode past them, followed closely by seven more horsemen in full-body armor.

"What the..." Sasuke said in surprise. Moments later the two genin and one chuunin of team seven were running after them. Remembering the rule 'underneath the underneath' they decided to ask what was going on before jumping in and doing something stupid.

"Yukie-san ran from the filming crew and we are trying to bring her back." One of the horsemen said. Naruto looked at him.

"Prove it." The Man nodded and removed his helmet, revealing himself as Asama Sandayū, the one who paid for the mission they will do. Blond jinchuuriki checked him for any signs of chakra usage, like maintaining a henge, but feeling none, nodded. "OK, we will help you." Pushing more chakra into his legs, he tried to catch up with Yukie, but she rode faster and all he could do in the end was running at the same speed as her horse. Sighing to himself, Naruto unsealed a five meters long, thin chan with a small weight on the end from a seal on his left hand. He then leaped forward at the same time wrapping the chain around the woman's abdomen. "Sorry, Princess Fūn, but the big guys say that you shouldn't run away." Yanking the chain, he pulled her from the saddle and caught her before she could fall on the ground.

"Let me go!" Yukie shouted, but it didn't help her as Naruto still had the chain wrapped around her and the horsemen dismounted around her. Sasuke and Sakura too were near, just in case.

"Thank you, um..." Asama said.

"Uzumaki Naruto." The blond jinchuuriki introduced himself, "And these are Haruno Sakura," He gestured towards his pink-haired teammate, "and Uchiha Sasuke." The dark-haired boy nodded. Asama nodded too.

"Let's return to our studio, Yukie-san." As much as she wanted to run away, Yuki had to do as her assistant said as she saw no other way out of her current situation.

*******

After finally meeting with their sensei at the studio, team seven had a short briefing about their mission: Protect Yukie-san during the trip to the Land of Snow, mostly protect her from herself... They also had to protect the rest of the filming crew, but no one else there seemed to have a thing for running away...

When the briefing was over, everyone moved to the cafeteria. Kakashi and several men from the filming crew were talking about the Land of Snow and the members of team seven were listening to the tales about the land of everlasting winter they will soon travel to... Suddenly a man burst into the cafeteria.

"Yukie-san ran away…. again..." He said panting a little after the small run he did to get there. Asama sighed and shook his head.

"Let's find her before she does something stupid." Everyone nodded. Kakashi cut his finger and flashed through a sequence of five handseals before slamming his hand onto the floor.

"**Kuchiyose no jutsu!**" In a poof of smoke nine dogs of different sizes and colors appeared.

"Oh, hello, Kakashi-san, what do'ya need?" A brown pug asked. Silver-haired jounin produced a ribbon from his pocket.

"Hello there, Pakkun." He nodded to the rest of the dogs, who barked him 'hello' too. "I need you to find this person." He let the dogs to sniff the ribbon he held. "Each of you will accompany two-three men from this room. Pakkun, you'll be with me and my team." The dogs nodded and started carrying out their task.

*******

It took the dogs only about fifteen minutes to find the runaway actress in a rundown bar on the outskirts of Konoha. As their mission was done there, they returned to wherever they came from, and team seven complete with their sensei, Asama and several more men entered the bar. They tried to persuade Yukie to return and go to the Land of Snow, but she was drunk and thus more stubborn than ever...

"Looks like there is no other way..." Kakashi sighed and lifted his hitae-ate, revealing his sharingan eye in his eye socket. As soon as the actress looked into the red eye, the copy-cat ninja cast a strong sleeping genjutsu on her. Returning his hitae-ate to its usual place, he caught the falling woman. "Let's go."

"Was that really necessary?" Asama asked.

"Don't worry." Kakashi gave the man his famous one-eyed smile. "She'll be fine." Asama could only sigh and think about how strange real ninja were...

*******

When Yukie woke up from illusion-induced sleep, she had a feeling that something was wrong...

"Is it me, or is there a roll there?" The door to her room opened and Asama walked in.

"I do believe, you're right, Yukie-san. We're on board, after all." This got an immediate – and rather loud – reaction from the woman

"What do you mean 'on board'?" She jumped up from her bed and ran out of the room, completely forgetting that she was in only pajamas. What she saw outside proved Asama to be right: almost right in front of her was the mast with sails hoisted, and all she could see around her was either the ship she was on, or the sea with an island far away. Suddenly a shadow appeared close to her and Yukie took a step back. Moments later the blond shinobi, the one who caught her at their first ...meeting, Uzumaki Naruto landed on the deck, surprisingly lightly, as he must have jumped down from the top of the mast.

"Oh, good morning, Yukie-san" Naruto said, turning to face her, and Yukie noticed that he now had red rings around his eyes, which now were amber colored with horizontally elongated, almost rectangular, pupils.

"What's good about it?" Yukie asked. The ninja said something under his breath, and walked towards her, the red rings quickly fading from around his eyes... While the two of them were interacting, more people appeared on the deck preparing it for the filming day. Damn, now she had no way to run away until they reach some land...

* * *

Sometime later, Naruto and the rest of team seven were sitting on the deck and watching the film being shot. The blond shinobi returned the last message scroll from Yugito he got several days before this mission started – the scroll with a single line saying that Yugito was sent on some kind of secret mission by the Raikage and won't be able to contact him for about a month... Naruto looked up at Yukie.

"I really don't like her" Naruto spoke quietly. "She may be a good actress, but as a person..."

"We were paid for this mission and we will complete it. Our feelings are irrelevant." Kakashi said, not looking away from his orange book. "But I do understand what you mean..." At this moment Asama decided to join their conversation.

"Don't judge her too strictly. Yukie-san didn't have an easy life. When she was just a child, her father was killed and Yukie-san disappeared for almost ten years... I don't know what she went through as she never talks with anyone about it. I just know it wasn't an easy time for her..." Everybody became silent then, having things to think about...

*******

About a week after departure from the warm waters of Hi no Kuni, the morning started with a loud shout.

"D-Director! What should we do? Our way is blocked! It was like this in the morning..." The director, still in his sleeping cap, appeared on the deck and looked at the big iceberg that was in the ships way.

"We arrived." He said then. "Everybody get ready! We will be filming here!" The men argued about it for a little while, but in the end the director got his own way. Around noon everything was ready for the filming, but during the first take things went wrong when a smoke grenade not placed by the crew exploded.

"Welcome to the Land of Snow." Said a gray-haired man in a gray bodysuit with a strange device on the left shoulder and hitae-ate for 'Snow' on his head. Kakashi immediately told everyone to return to the ship – this was an ambush against them.

"Have you brought hexagonal crystal... Princess Koyuki?" A pink-haired kunoichi, in the same-styled bodysuit asked. Using everybody's shock, the third member of the snow ninjas – Mizore, a large man with purple hair – attacked, but he was forced to dodge Sasuke's fireball just as he came close enough.

"Everyone, return to the ship! We will protect you." Kakashi ordered before engaging the leader of the snow ninjas in a one-on-one fight.

"**Hyoton: tsubame fubuki!**" The Snow kunoichi named Fubuki raised a swarm of ice swallows from the iceberg and launched them at Naruto and Sasuke who were – uselessly – trying to deal some damage to Mizore with kunai and shuriken. The two boys easily dodged the swarm, but the ice swallows just turned around and attacked them again. Naruto jumped aside, flashing through handseals.

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" Powerful wind jutsu destroyed annoying creatures and sent shards of ice at Mizore.

"**Hyoton: ****h****yōrō**** no jutsu!**" using the distraction created by her last attack, Fubuki tried to capture Koyuki in a pillar of ice, but another fireball, coming from Kakashi, didn't let her.

"It's time to capture you!" Mizore yelled, shooting several wires at Yukie, who was still there on the iceberg, caught in a flashback of her past. "Got' ya!"

"**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba!**" Moment later a wind sword cut the wires, letting Sakura pick up the princess and carry her to the ship. Naruto, in his sage mode, jumped from the side, attempting to punch Mizore. The man was thrown a bit back, but much less than the blond anticipated. "What the fuck?!"

"Ha! You thought that you can win against my chakra armor? No ninjutsu or genjutsu you throw at me will work!" The man responded.

"Then how 'bout this?" Naruto hit the ice with all his sage strength, causing Mizore to lose balance. "**Fuuton: reppushou!**" Wind jutsu, while dealing no direct damage to the man, sent him flying into the ice wall behind him.

"You brat!!!" Mizore launched himself at Naruto, but before the two could continue their fight, a loud explosion from where Sasuke was fighting Fubuki caught their attention. They saw the Snow kunoichi flying on mechanical wings. She then landed behind her 'teammate'

"Need my help?"

"This blond brat is pretty annoying!" Fubuki shrugged.

"Hyoton..." She stopped her jutsu seeing Sasuke's attack. Dodging his low-level fire jutsu, she counterattacked. "**Hyoton: ****h****yōrō**** no jutsu!**" Even with his sharingan active, Uchiha couldn't evade this, and the pillar of ice hit him hard on his stomach, sending him into the water. "That one too was annoying..." Fubuki commented, returning her attention to Naruto. "**Hyoton: ****h****yōrō**** no jutsu!**"

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" Even for the sage-powered jutsu, the raised ice was too hard and too thick to be destroyed and as Naruto continued to dodge the attacks from the two snow ninjas, he soon found himself in a corner. "Oh, fuck!" Another row of ice pillars was sent after him...

"**Onipou: Katon: byoki!**" A large purplish-red panther made from fire jumped in front of Naruto, destroying Fubuki's ice attack. Through the vapor from the attack, Naruto saw a gray, black and purple silhouette appear where the flame cat was moments before. "Missed me, oh, my brethren?"

"Yugito?" Naruto asked in surprise. Disappearing vapor, revealed the jinchuuriki of the Nibi, the two-tailed cat. "What are you doing here?"

"Hmm..." The girl tapped her chin like she was thinking. "I saw you fighting and decided to lend you a hand. Can't I?" She paused for a moment. "So, what's the problem?"

"Those two were from the group that attacked my team's clients." Yugito again assumed her 'thinking' pose.

"I'm done with my mission anyway. Mind if I tag along for some time? Being all alone is quite bo-o-oring..." Naruto nodded.

"I don't think Kakashi-sensei will mind." Yugito smiled.

"OK, then... Help me a bit; by the way, I'm not that good against Hyoton." They nodded to each other, somehow understanding the plan in each others' heads.

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**"

"**Katon: hi no Kama!**" Naruto's jutsu shattered the ice around them and the fire scythe Yugito sent vaporized it. "**Suiton: ****s****uiryūdan****!**" Vapor turned into a water dragon and attacked caught Fubuki and Mizore by surprise. Just a moment before the dragon collided with the two Snow ninjas, Yugito did a series of single-handed handseals and lightning started in her left hand. "**Raiton: hiraishin!**" Now charged with the strong lightning element, the water dragon slammed into the Snow ninjas, temporary causing their chakra armors the go haywire.

"Who are you, bitch?!" Fubuki asked, glaring at Yugito. Naruto glared back.

"Do not insult my friends! Ever!!!" He flashed through handseals. "**Fuuton: reppushou!**" Twin gusts of wind sent Mizore and Fubuki flying somewhere far away from the two jinchuuriki. At the same moment, two big whales made from ice rose from the water and then fell down onto the iceberg, busting it in two.

"Come!" Naruto gestured towards the ship. Yugito nodded and followed him.

* * *

"Who is she and what is she doing here?" Kakashi asked, a bit louder than needed, looking at Yugito suspiciously. Sakura, who was nursing a sleeping Sasuke, was looking at the Kumo kunoichi as well.

"She is brethren and my friend." Naruto replied.

"Yugito Nii, special jounin. It's nice to meet you and your team, Hatake Kakashi." The famous, or infamous, Copy-nin continued looking at Yugito suspiciously. "Don't worry, as long as I have no direct orders from the Raikage or I'm not attacked first, I will not harm Naruto there, or you and your team by extension. Nor will I tell anybody about our meeting." Yugito tried to assure the silver-haired Konoha jounin, but the man only sighed.

"Naruto, I hope you are really sure about this or you are in really big trouble. Be thankful, I won't add this incident into the mission report… for now." Naruto nodded.

"I understand."

"Good. Though I'm interested in how you two came to know each other? Konoha and Kumo aren't on the best terms, after all..." Kakashi said.

"We met several months ago in the forests of Hi no Kuni during our missions." The copy-nin raised his only visible eyebrow questioningly, now looking at Naruto.

"So this is the nymph you were talking about back then?" Yugito looked at a now blushing Naruto.

"Nymph? Watch out, or I might just kiss you." Naruto went to a darker shade of red for his blush and, after excusing himself, left the room.

* * *

The next morning Naruto in his sage mode was standing atop the mast, feeling the nature around him, like he has done almost every day during the trip. Suddenly his extended senses picked up a 'guest' as Yugito gracefully climbed up the mast and sat onto the top yard.

"Kakashi-san allowed me to stay with your team until we arrive to the port in two days. Then, unfortunately, we will have to part our ways again." She finally said, playing with her braid. Naruto looked down at her.

"Well, it's nice that Kakashi-sensei accepted you, and, yes, unfortunately, he may be right: our mission just became much more complicated and who knows what will happen if you still tag along with us." He descended onto the yard she was sitting on. "But it was really nice to see you... and, thank you, you saved my life on that iceberg." Yugito looked up at him.

"Oh, that was nothing. Like you said, we need to help each other." There was a short pause. "Say, Naruto-kun, did you called me a nymph because of what I am, or because you think I am beautiful?"

"Who said that you aren't?" Naruto replied.

"Thank you." Yugito pulled him closer to herself and kissed him on the cheek.

"And... CUT!" Blushing, the teens looked down to see the filming crew on the deck with a camera locked on them.

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Sorry, that the chapter is kinda short... I just finished my exams... anyway, **R&R**!!!


	14. The end of winter: part 2

Good day, my dear readers, here I have the fourteenth chapter of "_**Konoha's young sage**_"!

* **Review response**:  
**bleacher**, **T3Ko**, **eclipseX**, **lordamnesia**, **acepro Evolution**, **Still Not Dead Yet**, **Ignisha**, **wordless764**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **Lycan91**, **Evil E. Evil**, **Skelo**, **nonjames**, **Hero's Valor**, thank you, people!  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, actually, I planned 'Snow mission' to have a significance later on, so it's not exactly filler (though, next chapter definitely will be one. & _**Unreal **_crossover at that. ^_^ Yes, THAT _**Unreal **_('98))  
**cruel vamp**, Naruto is still in process of recreating rasengan - I planned to show this in the next chapter. It'll be complete by 20th chapter, I think.  
**Reishin Amara**, Naruto will use both sage mode and Kyuubi's yoki. Plus at least once he will successfully summon Kyuubi's spirit to fight alongside with him. But not, I won't even try to fit it with Shippuden. There are some wore interesting plotlines...  
**DrangoWings**, too late, man. Sorry. But those two might be involved in my other stories.

* **Jutsu list**:  
**K****age bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.**  
****Ame no shi**- (B-rank) Rain of Death - fuyunjutsu attack: user throws the 'Ame no shi' (just a time-freezing containment seal) up into the air, where it releases around one hundred kunai (or any other heave objects) with explosive tags attached to them. All explosive tags will explode at the same time, causing a lot of damage in the area.  
**Doton: keisei** - (B-rank) Earth style: formation - jutsu of my own creation. Allows user to modify earth in a small area at his will. User need to stand on the ground to do this jutsu.  
**Katon: housenka** - (C-rank) Fire style: Mythical Fire Phoenix** - **this fire jutsu creates series of small fireballs. The ninja can also hurl a projectile which is covered in these same flames.  
**Hyōton: ****s****ōryū ****b****ōfūsetsu**- (unknown rank) Twin Dragon Blizzard – User shoots two focused blizzards at the target. The blizzards have the shape of a black dragon with red eyes.**  
Hyoton: genkan**** - **(C-rank) Ice style: freeze - creates ice from water.**  
Katon: akahiryuudan - **(A-rank, border S-rank)Red Fire Dragon Projectile – User breathes out a stream of white-hot flame shaped like a dragon. The projectile is semi-sentient and homing, so it's easier to outright destroy it, then to try to evade it.**  
Onipou: katon: hitoya no funsui - **(unranked demonic jutsu)Demonic Arts: Fire Style: Fountains of the Underworld - Rather slow attack, but able to deal tremendous amount of damage if it hit the target. jutsu is active, until user cancels it.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'

* * *

Thanks_** for: 500+ favorites, 125 000+ hits!!!

* * *

Special thanks to _**CloudBloodBane **_for beta-reading this chapter!

* * *

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 11: The end of winter. Part 2**

The jinchuuriki duo had a small ...talk with the director about filming them. In the end, they got what they wanted, and made sure that their kiss won't be included in the film. Despite the directors many protests... The rest of the sailing went well and without any accidents, well, other than Yugito catching Naruto and repeating that kiss in private... As they reached the port on the mainland, two groups separated. The Nibi jinchuuriki remained in the town, waiting for the ship to Lightning country, while team seven, Koyuki and the filming crew got on the trucks and were on their way to the mountains or daimyo palace... At the first stop Asama called team seven to his truck.

"Now that we are in the Snow country and already had an attack, I need you to protect Koyuki-hime twice as much." The man said, looking at Kakashi.

"One of those snow ninja called her princess." Naruto observed. "Were they right?" Asama slowly nodded.

"Yes. Koyuki-hime is the rightful ruler of the country, but when she was but a child, her uncle usurped the power by killing her father, Sōsetsu-sama, and we had to send her out of the country. I think, Kakashi-san, you were the one who did that." Silver-haired jounin thought for several seconds, before agreeing.

"I remember evacuating a girl from the burning palace, but I was never told she was a princess."

"Yes, yes, anyway... We lost all contact with her after the evacuation and thought that she died. Several years ago I finally saw Koyuki-hime in one of the movies and I was so happy. I did all I could to become her personal assistant and, well... you already know the rest. Please... Help us return Koyuki-hime to her rightful place." Asama pleaded.

"Don't joke with me. Even if I'm still alive, my heart is dead. Snow country is not my problem." Koyuki, who appeared in the doorway sometime ago said rudely.

"B-But?" The man began, but was interrupted.

"No." With that the princess left. Kakashi sighed.

"It's not good." He said. "As Dotō found us, we have no more chance of avoiding him. We need to fight, and for that we need more people..."

"We will only lose time." Sasuke said. "The four of us are enough." Somewhere deep down, the silver-haired jounin had to agree with his student.

"Anyway, I'll talk with Koyuki-san. Hopefully, I'll be able to change her outlook a bit." And then he left. The rest of team seven followed him, leaving Asama and the filming crew to discuss things among themselves.

*******

Trucks exited a very long cave and stopped near the cliff. People immediately started preparing for filming another scene, when the director's assistant brought bad news...

"D-Director, w-we have a big problem!" He said in a scared voice.

"What now?"

"Y-Yuki-san ran away... again." Kakashi, who stood near them and heard everything, roared:

"Team seven!" Within several seconds, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were there. "We will have to disperse and find Koyuki-san as fast as possible."

"Um... Kakashi-sensei, can't you use your dogs?" Pink-haired kunoichi asked. The Copy-cat ninja only shook his head.

"In such a snow they'll be useless." Sakura turned to Naruto.

"Koyuki is civilian; it won't be possible even for Gamasora to trace her chakra signature. And he will freeze to death there – he's a toad, remember." Kakashi nodded.

"We can't lose much time. Let's go. Meet there in... six hours. If you find her, use the radio." Two genin and one chuunin nodded and all ran in different directions. Moment later the silver-haired jounin started looking for the runaway princess too.

*******

Naruto and several of his shadow clones were inspecting the forest that lay in his search area... Finally the blond jinchuuriki felt one of his clones release itself, sending him the memory of Koyuki's location. Naruto then informed the rest of the team, released the rest of his clones and sped towards where the sleeping or, worse, unconscious princess lay in the snow... As he picked her up, the blond shinobi muttered his breath:

"Pretty good, more than eight kilometers in two hours and through so much snow..." Suddenly, he felt Koyuki shifting.

"If you want to be a good actor, you have to be fit. Now leave me alone!" Naruto glance over his shoulder to the woman.

"Nope, can't do that. It's my mission to protect you. And I always finish my missions!" Taking a deep breath, he started running towards the cave. Sure, it wasn't the shortest way back to the camp, but he didn't want to spend more time outside in the snow, than needed... He was halfway through the cave, and already declined the princess' pleading to leave her at least ten times, when something happened: a pulse of chakra ran through the floor, melting the snow and ice there and revealing railroad tracks.

"Oh, shit! The train." Koyuki said fearfully.

"The train?" Naruto asked, but his question was answered, when a metal monstrosity appeared right behind them. "Is it... the train?" He felt the princess nod.

"It will run over us!" She screamed.

"No." Naruto let the train come closer and then did a somersault, landing onto the front of the train. While they were in the cave, no one could even hope to harm them there. When they were again outside, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, still holding Koyuki, moved onto the roof and then jumped into the snow on the right... The train stopped.

"Nice moves, my dear Koyuki." A voice said through the loudspeakers on the train.

"Dotō?" Princess Koyuki asked in fear.

"The one and only. Now..." The man was about to say something more, but several logs hit the train. Everybody looked up and saw a small army of samurai, led by Asama Sandayū, standing on the rise. Asama said some heroic words, and the army attacked. "Those people are still alive?" Dotō asked. The leader of the snow ninjas that stood there with him tried to apologize and promised to change this, but the tyrant of the land of Snow had different plans. "There's no need, Nadare. They need to know, who they should be afraid of." Dotō gave a sign, and the last seven train cars had their sides opened, as well as two turrets activated. And everywhere on them one could see kunai launchers. "Fire!"

"Oh, shit!" Naruto threw Koyuki from his back and flashed through handseals before slamming both his palms onto the ground. "**Doton: keisei!**" A stone wall rose between the train and the samurai army, taking the rain of the blades on itself. While this wall for sure saved a lot of lives, several samurai were still killed and many more wounded or maimed. Asama himself got several nasty wounds; he'll live, but will have to spend the next several weeks in the hospital... Naruto fished one of his special tags from his pouch and attached it to his own kunai. "Good thing I recreated it... Time to strike back, you, monster!" And the blond jinchuuriki threw the kunai high into the air. When it was over the train, he did a single handseal to activate the tag. "**Ame no shi!**"

"Dotō-sama... We need to run!" Naruto heard that man, Nadare, yell. Immediately the locomotive and the first car separated from the rest of the train and sped away from the zone, targeted by Naruto's attack. They managed it, but still, **Ame no Shi** destroyed all but one train cars left behind. The blond jinchuuriki took care of it with another **Doton: keisei** jutsu... Suddenly there was another explosion, and everyone saw the railroad bridge, along with the runaway part of the train, fell into the abyss.

"Good riddance." Naruto muttered under his breath.

* * *

Those, who survived the train and could move, helped with the evacuation of those, who couldn't... or were dead, from the battlefield. Koyuki spoke with Asama, but it only strengthened her desire to leave the country. This turned into the argument which made her try to leave... This only made her fight with Naruto... Though, the fight didn't last long...

"What the?!" A zeppelin flew up from the abyss, a zeppelin made from the first car of the train! Koyuki turned around to see, what was going on, but only saw a net capture her and pull her to that zeppelin.

"No, I won't let you!" Naruto yelled, attaching wire to his kunai and then throwing it at the gondola. The knife hit the wooded side of the car and the Kyuubi jinchuuriki started climbing up... When he reached a solid surface, he paused to collect nature's energy and enter his sage mode, god knows, he might need it... With a light punch Naruto destroyed the door and entered the gondola. He immediately was found by the pink-haired snow kunoichi, but she could do nothing as the jinchuuriki's fist connected with her stomach, sending her through the wall into the 'main area', where both Dotō and Koyuki were.

"What is it?" Tyrant asked, looking at the sage-teen, who entered the room. Four more snow shinobi, who guarded Dotō, shot wires at Naruto. The blond shinobi let the wires wind around him, before easily tearing them apart.

"Why you?!" The large man, Mizore, tried to punch Naruto's back, but even through his chakra armor he felt like he hit a stone wall. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki slowly turned around, before punching back, almost sending the man flying out of the zeppelin.

"I don't know, what you are, but this should stop you!" Nadare said from behind him. Then Naruto felt unbearable pain shoot through his back. Using the last of his quickly dissolving powers – his sage mode had just several seconds left, and his chakra had been drained – Naruto uppercut the man, breaking several of his ribs. Then the Konoha ninja passed out.

"What was that thing?" Koyuki asked, pointing at the device on Naruto's back.

"It's a chakra suppressor, the best device to control a shinobi's chakra. No matter how much he has, it will suck all of it, causing him more pain, the more chakra it drains." Dotō chuckled evilly. "So, now, will you give me the hexagonal crystal?" Koyuki hesitantly removed the crystal from her neck and gave it to the tyrant. The man looked at it for a second, before roughly grabbing the princess by her collar.

"Don't play games with me! This one is a fake!" Koyuki's eyes widened in surprise.

"F-Fake? How is it possible?" Then it hit her. "Hatake Kakashi. He switched the crystals."

"Should we capture him, Dotō-sama?" Mizore asked.

"No need." The tyrant glanced at Naruto, unconscious on the floor. "He will come to us on his own. After all, he is the one, who never abandons his comrades."

*******

When Naruto woke up, he was quite sore and chained to the wall in a small cell in some kind of a prison. He tried to send chakra to his muscles to free himself, but immediately all the chakra he tried to use was sucked from him, and a pain shot through his back.

"Oh, damned thing." He tried to move again, this time without using chakra, but the heavy chains got in the way and he couldn't do much.

"You may as well do nothing." Koyuki said from the cell across. "You can't free yourself. That thing on your back, it drains all of your chakra." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki sighed.

"Now I understand why it's said, that there is no spring in the land of Snow." He saw the princess look at him. "Spring is the time for the renovation, it's time when everything awakens and starts changing, growing for the better. Yet, people here have their spirit broken, be that by the hand of tyrant, or by harsh weather... They don't do anything, and the spring will never come to their souls." Naruto paused. "As for my situation, there is nothing a shinobi can't deal with. If this thing sucks my chakra, it must have its limit, I only need to overload it..."

"But!" Koyuki exclaimed.

"Don't worry. Better, think about spring." He closed his eyes. "The Earth has unlimited potential for life, it has unlimited energy, you just need to call for it, be it for the crops one is growing, or for the battle to protect something precious. All we need to do is let the Earth bring spring to us. But if we give up, it will never happen." Naruto became completely unmoving, letting the flow of energy into his body, letting the energy fill every cell of his body. Finally, he entered the sage mode, and immediately pushed every little bit of energy to that damned thing on his back. At first, the already familiar blinding pain shot through him, but then... There was an explosion. His plan worked! Yet, he needed time to heal his wounded back and come back to his senses after the "torture"... Almost an hour later, Naruto found he was ready to break out of the prison. Once again, he activated his sage mode. With the power now flowing through him, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki easily broke the chains. Now free, he walked towards the grating of the cell, but as soon as he touched the rods, he found out that they were under voltage. "Damn!" Sage mode helped a little there, so the blond teen managed to rip the door from its hinges.

"N-Naruto? You're free?" Koyuki asked, surprised to see him in front of her cell.

"As I said, there was nothing a shinobi can't deal with." Then he ripped her cell open too. "Let's go." To his surprise, she nodded.

"Let's." The two of them ran towards the lift, but Naruto was against using it. Especially, since there were several explosions not too far from there – Kakashi and the rest of team seven must have came there.

"I have a better idea." He picked the princess up and started running up the wall. But just when he got to the bridge, someone cloaked appeared in front of him. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki set Koyuki down and tried to hit the person, but the man dodged the attack and, jumping away, removed his cloak. "Kakashi-sensei?" The Silver-haired jounin smiled with his only visible eye.

"Looks like I'm a bit late. You two are already free." He chuckled.

"You took the hexagonal crystal." Koyuki said and Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, I did. I saw that those men were after it and I decided to play it safe. Here" He gave her the real one. "Anyway, we need to go Sakura and Sasuke can't keep the enemy away from here for too long." Just as he said this, the rest of the team seven entered the bridge. "Lead the way, Koyuki-san." The princess nodded and they started running... After going through what seemed to be endless labyrinth of rooms and corridors, the five of them arrived to the giant dark chamber that Koyuki identified as the throne hall. The lights went on... Dotō stood up from the throne, which was on a rather high rampant, and walked towards the ladder.

"So... You're there, Koyuki." Koyuki briefly turned around and winked to Naruto and Kakashi, before running to Dotō.

"What the?!" Sakura tried to run after her, but the snow trio appeared in front of her, blocking the way... Koyuki gave the crystal to Dotō. The tyrant smiled and walked a little past her.

"Nicely played, Koyuki. You always were a great actress."

"Indeed, I'm an actress." The princess stated, taking a small blade from her robe and trying to stab Dotō through his back. But there was only a sound of metal hitting metal.

"You, little bitch!" The man growled and grabbed Koyuki by her throat. But the princess didn't give up and pushed them both down from the rampant. Naruto immediately dashed there, trying to save the crystal, but he was too late, as Dotō already stood up. "**Hyōton: ****s****ōryū ****b****ōfūsetsu****!**" Two black ice-made dragons with red eyes shot from his hands and slammed into Naruto's stomach, sending him flying back. "Let's go to the rainbow glaciers now." The tyrant said, removing his regal robes and showing dark-blue chakra armor underneath it. He then picked up a barely conscious Koyuki up and activated the mechanism that will destroy the hall. Using the smoke as a cover, he tried to fly away on the mechanical wings. But Naruto saw this and threw a rope with a weight to the princess Koyuki. She caught it, and the Kyuubi jinchuuriki joined the flight...

* * *

When they were almost halfway to the glacier, Dotō finally noticed the extra passenger and cut the rope, making Naruto fall down into the dense forest... As he landed, the blond shinobi saw Dotō flying away, and started running after him. But, of course, he was slower, so when he got to the glacier, the tyrant was already there working with something in the small building at the center of the glacier.

"Koyuki-san, are you alright?" Naruto asked. The princess only nodded weakly.

"Why you little shit!" Dotō ran through handseals. "**Hyōton: ****s****ōryū ****b****ōfūsetsu****!**" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki barely avoided being hit by the jutsu and tried to attack the man with taijutsu. But, unfortunately, Dotō was bigger, heavier and had a thick armor to protect him, so even with all his abilities, Naruto lost... The tyrant threw him to the center of a small but deep lake that was under the glacier and then directed another **Hyōton: ****s****ōryū ****b****ōfūsetsu** to hit the blond shinobi from above, breaking the ice and pushing him into the ice-cold water. "**Hyoton: genkan!**" The jutsu sealed the hole in the ice...

"Naruto!" Koyuki screamed.

"Sorry to break your boy-toy, but we won't see him ever again." Dotō said evilly. "Now, let's see what this Kazahana treasure is shall we?"

* * *

When Naruto came back to senses, he found out that he was in very cold water, slowly sinking and with his chakra really low – he spent a lot to keep up with Dotō while he flew towards the glacier.

'_My own chakra won't be enough to escape from here... And I can't activate sage mode in such a cold environment..._' He sighed. '_Looks like it's time to take Kyuubi-chan's offer..._' Concentrating, Naruto entered his subconscious, immediately finding himself in the middle of a mixture between a quagmire and tropical forest. The plants and their giant leaves made the place look like it was a natural corridor. The blond teen started walking. There were several crossroads on his way, but he never even slowed down for one, clearly knowing where to go. Finally he found what he was looking for: the "corridor" there was wider and had a transparent blue wall, going between two statues of toad warriors, with a dark-blue kanji for "seal" in the center. Without hesitation, Naruto walked through the barrier. He was now in the part of his subconscious where his Kyuubi-chan lived. But he couldn't, for once, see her. "Grr... I have no time for games right now." He said angrily.

"**Spoilsport.**" Naruto immediately turned around, but could do nothing to the vixen from dropping him onto the grassy floor with herself on top of him. "**What does bring our strong brave shinobi to my humble abode?**" She asked, planting a kiss on his lips. Naruto sighed and tried move the naked teenage-looking brunette from him.

"I need your help. Now." He said looking straight into her crimson eyes.

"**Oh, you finally decided to take my offer?**" She asked. "**You know that I want you to pay for this?**" The blond shinobi sighed.

"I know. I will pay later. Right now I have no time..." But the vixen interrupted him.

"**No, no, no, Naru-chan, you aren't leaving without snogging me at least once!**" And with all her demonic strength, the girl attacked his mouth with hers...

* * *

Dotō inserted the hexagonal crystal into the keyhole, when the ice over the place where a frozen to death Naruto should be, glowed red.

"What?" The ice and water, surrounded by the vapor, exploded upwards as the pillar of orange-red energy shot towards the sky. "What is it?" A pillar of water rose, with Naruto, surrounded by the bonfire of the same orange-red energy, in the center. Though, this Naruto looked more feral with his whisker-like marks deeper and darker, his nails turned into claws and his eyes, now crimson with slitted pupils. "Why don't you die!!!" Dotō yelled. "**Hyōton: ****s****ōryū ****b****ōfūsetsu****!**" Faster than ever before, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki evaded the attack, at the same time flashing through the handseals.

"**Katon: akahiryuudan!**" He exhaled an almost white-hot flame that took the shape of dragon and flew towards the tyrant of the land of Snow.

"Stupid boy!" Dotō hissed, sending twin black ice dragons against the fire one... The two jutsu collided, canceling each other and creating a lot of vapor... The rest of team seven, that just entered the glacier, froze. Kakashi from seeing his student access the demon's yoki. Sakura and Sasuke – just because of the level of power displayed.

'_Why does the dobe have this power? Why isn't this power mine?_' The last Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf asked in his thoughts. The cursed seal on his shoulder glowed red for a moment, agreeing with him... Naruto landed onto the ice, ready to perform the next jutsu.

"**Onipou: katon: hitoya no funsui!**" A reddish line spread from where Naruto's hands touched the ground, creating a very big drawing of ...something with ten big circles, one of which had Dotō in it. The whole thing flashed red and the tyrant got the message to get away from this, whatever it was. Just as he jumped out of the circle, a pillar of fire rose from it. The same pillars of fire were in other nine circles of this giant drawing... Seeing as Dotō escaped the fire, Naruto canceled the jutsu and performed a new sequence of handseals. "**Katon: ****h****ōsenka****!**" While normally it already was fairly a strong ninjutsu, powered by the yoki of the strongest demon in existence, it became twice as deadly...

"**Hyōton: ****s****ōryū ****b****ōfūsetsu****!**" But again, the ice dragons protected Dotō from being burned to death, creating another screen from vapor. "Stupid little shit, fire won't work against me!"

"**Too bad, eh?**" Naruto's voice, just demonic now, said, as the blond jinchuuriki appeared from behind the vapor clouds with his folded shuriken in his arm. "**Your time ends here!**" Naruto thrust his weapon forward, and it went through the chakra armor Dotō wore, and through the man's flesh. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki ripped the 'blade' from the now dead body and suppressed the yoki, returning back to his normal self. He took a step towards Koyuki. "Now it's your time, hime." Then he fell on the ground unconscious...

"Naruto?" Koyuki asked, but, of course, she got no response. "Naruto!.." She ran towards him, not paying any attention to what was going on around her... The generator deep down under the glacier finally activated, and the cold was drawing back... But no, Koyuki gave her attention only to the ninja who gave her the will to bring the Spring back...

"And... CUT!" the filming crew director, who apparently was there too, shouted.

*******

The next morning the new queen of the land of Snow visited the hospital, where a still unconscious Naruto was. She sat onto the chair near his bed and for several minutes just looked at him. Not seeing any signs of him being awake, Koyuki sighed and decided to proceed with her plan...

"Thank you. Thank you for everything you did." She said barely above whisper, before leaning forward and kissing him. To her surprise, he responded to the kiss, even if he was still unconscious. But who was Koyuki to complain? If only she knew that at the very same time a certain vixen was snogging the very same blond hero senselessly...

'_**I'm sorry Naruto, but I won't survive on this for four more years...**__** I'm not sure I'll survive for even two...**_ _** I will do this. Hope, you will forgive me one day...**_' Kyuubi thought, as she started yet another round of snogging with Naruto...

* * *

**R&R**, comrades!


	15. ChizraNali water Gods

Hello, everyone! I'm back with a ...special chapter. It's my present to you since "_**Konoha's young sage**_" just happens to have its first birthday today! So, here we go!

_**AN**_: This chapter also contains some crossover elements (names, locations and three monsters) from "_**Unreal**_" the shooter (1998), which I do not own in any way, shape or form. You can have no prior knowledge about _**Unreal**_'s world - it won't make any parts of the story not understandable. Promise.

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* **Review response**:  
**InTheYearOfTheCat**, the story was planned as the one having onesided Koyuki -- Naruto, but if you insist, I can expand their relationship a little. But I won't change Naruto/Yugito pairing with Fuu here and there as the main pairing for our blond hero. **Radomir Ravnyiskov**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, this should answer your questions too.  
**shadowgouf**, indeed, only Naruto can do that without clones. ^_^  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, none actually. 4 years till Naruto's 18 and she can f*** him cross-eyed.  
**Salamander Hanzo**, Um... thank you?  
**nobother**, **Monaki-cheung**, **c im am a dragon**, **eclipseX**, **Skelo**, **skidney1**,** Narfan**, thank you!!!  
**GingitsuneRaposo**, I plan on Naruto completing his rasengen self-training just before the grand fight in chapter ...19, if I'm not mistaken with my own plans for this story. And the main pairings are Naruto/Yugito. Fuu/Naruto/Yugito, Naruto/Fuu/Deidara & Fuu/Deidara. Also, there are onesided Kin, Koyuki -- Naruto pairings (maybe there will be more of them).  
**Trooper0007**, chapter 26 or something like that.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, sorry, but Yugito won't be fast enough =).  
**T3Ko**, I suppose, your answer will be same with the one I gave to **Still Not Dead Yet**.**  
Reishin Amara**, never thought about that moment from this perspective... All hail YURI!!! =)**  
Tristan76**, Kyuubi isn't getting out of the seal. But that doesn't mean she won't go "all the way" with her blond love. Just she still has to wait till he is 18. In body at least.  
**Naruto2106**, sorry, but my logic seems to be failing me lately. Did you want to say that you found my prologue to be boring to death?

* **Jutsu list**:  
**Rasengan **- (A-rank) Spiraling sphere - Jutsu created by Yondaime Hokage. In itself it is a ball of compressed, quickly swirling in all directions at one, chakra. When done right, this jutsu can do a lot of tearing damage to anything it touches.  
**Katon: Haisekishō**- (B-rank) Fire style: burning ash accumulation - The user "spits" a stream of chakra charged gun powdered ash form their mouth surrounding the area. The powder is hot enough to cause third degree burns to it's victims and can cause further damage by being lit on fire.**  
Katon: goukakyuu **- (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales fire from his mouth.**  
Doton: keisei** - (B-rank) Earth style: formation - jutsu of my own creation. Allows user to modify earth in a small area at his will. User need to stand on the ground to do this jutsu.**  
Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.**  
Doton: yomi numa** - (A-rank) Earth style: swamp of the underworld - This jutsu creates vast swamp. If someone happens to be where the swamp is created, he will sink and, if swamp is deep enough, may be killed.**  
Fuuton: atsugai** - (B-rank) Wind style: pressure damage - This jutsu creates devasting wind blast.**  
Kaze no yaiba** - (A-rank) Sword of wind - cutting wind.

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**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link'

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_Thanks **for 145 000+ hits!!!**  
_

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_**

Special thanks to _**CloudBloodBane **_for beta-reading this chapter!

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**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 12: Chizra-Nali water Gods**

Naruto was sitting in his armchair, watching Kin throwing her senbon into the target on the wall. Sure, the girl adapted nicely to being a civilian, but it was obvious that she missed her shinobi life. He himself was somewhat training – absentmindedly keeping an incomplete rasengan on the palm of his hand. The jutsu looked exactly like the perfect rasengan Jiraya had showed him, but the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was still failing to make it more powerful than just enough to tear through a parchment, but he wasn't giving up and he was able to slowly increase the maximum power the jutsu was stable at. Sighing, Naruto dispelled the rasengan in his hand and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost half past seven in the evening.

"I'm going to make us dinner." He said to Kin. The ex-kunoichi just nodded and continued throwing senbon.

*******

At the same time a single man with several nasty wounds, some of them made by some type of acid, entered a small village located in the mountains of Tea country. People stepped out of his way as he hobbled towards the local post office. Unfortunately, for him, his wounds were too bad, and fell down onto the ground several yards from the office.

"Please... Send message... expedition... To the water temple... was attacked... Need help..." He breathed out in a dry voice, before blacking out. One of the more responsive people on the street wrote his message down and entered the post office to send it to Konoha, while several others were carrying the man to the local healer.

*******

"Kakashi-sensei is again late..." A pink-haired kunoichi sighed. Two boys nodded.

"Wonder... How long it will take him to appear and what his excuse will be today?" Naruto said, without looking away from the scroll he was reading. But, suddenly...

"Team, we have a mission from lady Hokage." Kakashi said as he shunshin'ed in front of his two genin and one chunin, barely thirty minutes late for the team meeting. "We are to go to Tea country and investigate the disappearance of an expedition at one of the local temple ruins. Go, pack for a B-rank mission of two-three weeks in length. Meet me at the southern gates in two hours." With that, the silver-haired jounin disappeared in a swirl of wind and leaves. Team seven sighed at their sensei's antics and went to their homes, to pack for the mission.

* * *

Kakashi managed to surprise Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke for the second time that day, when he was not only on time for departure, but also was reading something besides Jiraiya's porn books: a thick and quite ancient scroll was in his hands.

"What's it, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, studying the scroll.

"This is what the Hokage could find about the place where we are going. It's an ancient temple built about fifteen centuries ago by a mysterious nation called Nali. It said that the people who currently inhabit this land came from the north-west and drove these Nali out." Kakashi said, while continuing to read. "They were said to be master architects. Therefore, we are to expect a great complex of buildings with hidden passages and many traps. Try not to activate any of them otherwise who knows what may happen. Also Nali were said to be fine poison brewers, so also don't touch anything sharp without any sort of protection."

"And we possibly have to explore the whole complex to find out what had happened there?" Naruto asked. "Damn, don't tell me that we will also have to find some kind of monster army!"

"OK, I won't." Kakashi said with his famous eye-smile. "But the message we got from one of the local town said that the survivor from the expedition had many wounds, like something big clawed him, and acid burns..."

"No matter, what is there, it is no match for an Uchiha!" Sasuke exclaimed, earning a heart-eyed stare from Sakura and no reaction from the others.

"So, there is monster army too! Just great!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki swore, unsealing another pack of weapons from his scroll and attaching them to his belt. "Well, better be ready for them." Kakashi only nodded.

*******

Yugito was sitting on the edge of a cliff near the southern border of Tea country. She was resting briefly after yet another mission the Raikage gave her – a simple retrieve an item mission this time. Suddenly her eyes caught a movement to the side and the Kumo kunoichi prepared to retaliate in case it was an attack. However, it was just a messenger toad from Naruto. Relaxing, she waited for the amphibian to approach her, and picked up the scroll. Opening it, she read the message the Kyuubi jinchuuriki sent her.

"And why does fate try to make our paths cross? But who I am to complain?" Yugito said aloud. "I'll have to change my route a little though... It'll be worth the time to meet him again." Making her choice, the Nibi jinchuuriki wrote a quick reply, before returning the scroll to the toad to carry it back to Naruto, and started evaluating the new route back to Lightning country in her head...

*******

Team seven arrived at the village in the mountains of Tea country, the very same village from which they got the message about the expedition to the Nali temple being attacked, six days later. As the archeologist who escaped that unknown enemy was still alive, and even conscious, Kakashi decided to start the mission with asking the man about what actually happened, trying to figure out what kind of threat they will be facing. Unfortunately, all that he got from the archeologist was a very uncertain plan of the known part of the temple and a description of some kind of half-human half-snake attackers, but the silver-haired jounin had never heard anything about such creatures before.

Sometime during this information gathering session, Naruto felt a very familiar chakra signature approach and then enter the village, until it stopped near the building across from the healer's home. When team seven left the house, Naruto immediately saw Yugito leaning against the post across the street. Without hesitation, he came up to her. They shook hands and Yugito kissed her friend on the cheek.

"Hello there." Yugito said. Then she looked up to Kakashi and the rest of the team seven. "It's nice to meet you again."

"Hello, Yugito-chan." Naruto replied, making the Kumo kunoichi blush a little. "What brings you here?"

"I was returning from my mission and decided that I could cross our paths with you to say 'hi'." Yugito answered, looking into his eyes. Naruto chuckled. "Sorry, I'm in a bit of hurry to return to my village, so I'll be going now." Naruto nodded and as they bid each other farewell, Yugito was again on her way to Kumo.

* * *

For the next hour and a half, team seven was running through the bed of mountains, heading towards the entrance of this Nali temple. Finally, they reached a couple of ancient buildings in a small valley between two mountains – that must have been the entrance of the temple, the archeologist talked about.

Unfortunately, it looked like something big walked through it and now large stones were blocking the main entrance. Certainly, with Kakashi's and Naruto's earth affinities they could create the entrance for the team, but it was already rather late. Therefore, Kakashi decided that it would be better to rest now and continue tomorrow in the morning. After seven days, hardly anyone from the expedition was still alive and searching for them – or whatever was left of them – in the night with a tired team wasn't the smartest idea.

Naruto happened to be the first one on guard of the team's camp. As he usually did, he was meditating on the border of entering his sage mode, becoming quite a sensor... For an hour and a half everything was fine. Then the Kyuubi jinchuuriki sensed something strange heading towards the camp. It was about the size of a large pigeon but had the shape of a mosquito and there were fifteen of these monsters. The blond shinobi immediately woke up the rest of the team and prepared to fight off the giant blood-sucking insects.

Fighting in the dark against fast and maneuverable opponents like these strange monster-mosquitoes were was more than a little hard as Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi had to constantly keep a source of strong light to be able to see their small enemies, while trying to hit them with something deadly. Sakura was useless in a ranged combat as she was with hand-to-hand. For a couple of minutes neither side of this fight could win: the ninjas managed to keep the giant mosquitoes away from their bodies, and said mosquitoes lost only one comrade to the ninja's jutsu. Then something finally clicked in the blonds' head.

"Insects don't like smoke!" He yelled. Kakashi nodded and performed a set of one-handed handseals.

"**Katon: Haisekishō****!**" The silver-haired jounin exhaled a large cloud of grayish smoke.

"Well, I was thinking more about smoke bombs, but this might be even better." When the smoke cloud was far enough from his teammates Naruto lit a lighter he always carried and threw it into the cloud. "Boom." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki commented as an explosion of fire consumed the blood-sucking insects. When those flew away with an angry buzzing that promised the four ninja to be left drained of all blood next time, Naruto collected his lighter and looked at Kakashi. He understood it perfectly.

"It looks like it is not safe to stay outside in the night. We will have to find a safe chamber in the nearest part of the temple to spend the rest of the night there." Sasuke and Sakura had to agree with it.

* * *

Sun light entered the small, bare room, waking up three of the shinobi of team seven. Sakura, whose shift was now ending, was starting a fire to cook breakfast. Thankfully, the single window of this room was covered by some kind of a net and the giant mosquitoes did not bother the four humans for the rest of night.

After they ate the breakfast, team seven entered the main part of the temple. It began with a square chamber with a small pool of greenish water in the middle. There were two ways from this chamber: the corridor on the left, but it was blocked just after the first turn. The second exit was a hole leading to a lower level and, having no other real alternative, team seven picked it. The short straight corridor led them into an open space between two buildings where a large pool was located. There was another entrance to this space – on the opposite side and a floor higher from where team seven currently was. There were stone gangways leading to that "entrance". Naruto did a quick scan of the area with his sensor abilities, finding another passage away from there, the one located under the water and guarded by several big and toothy fishes.

"We should be cautious not to disturb the water surface." Naruto said. "I don't want to find out how dangerous those fishes are." He explained, pointing at some of the fishes that were lazily swimming just a couple of meters away from the closest gangway. Forming the needed handseals, he created a small bring to the nearest gangway, and the team moved onto it. From there they all easily reached the exit from this place and once again were in a corridor. It was rather long with several turns and ended with small platform that could only be a lift.

After ascending to the next floor, team seven found themselves on a crossroad. After a quick inspection, the rightmost route was found to be leading into an empty room with lots of broken ceramics. The other two ways both led into the same chamber, just entering it from the different sides. In this new chamber, team seven found a green-skinned monster that had the lower body of a snake and the upper of a some freakish version of human. It was called mantis or something like that... As the beast saw the four shinobi, it attacked, spitting green slime at them. Team seven members dodged the attack, returning it as four kunai hit the monster on its head.

"What was that?!" Sakura asked, as she saw the kunai slowly melt in the beast's blood and slime.

"That's our opponent, it looks like." Kakashi said with his famous eye-smile.

"We better not touch these things either." Naruto commented as he used a simple earth ninjutsu to bury the beast under the stone floor.

"Now, where will we go from here?" Kakashi asked, gesturing towards two exits from the chamber. Both Sasuke and Sakura picked the wider corridor. Naruto just shrugged. So, the team went right there. There were quite a few rooms accessible from this corridor, but none contained the archeologists, dead or alive though several more slimy monsters that were present there...

* * *

It was about two in the afternoon when Team seven settled for lunch in one of the smaller rooms of the complex. They had yet to find the expedition team, but this was their mission and they were not going to abandon it. When they finished eating, they continued their search. Soon they found their way into yet another chamber with a pool and four more mantises there. Disposing of the monsters, team seven looked around. The only exit from the chamber was going upwards with a steady slope. Something was not right here and true to their sixth sense, when Kakashi stepped onto the first stone of the slope, an ancient trap was activated. Several large round boulders with sharp metallic spikes were released upon team seven.

"**Katon: goukakyuu!**" Kakashi used the jutsu without really thinking. Thankfully, the flames were hot enough to melt the spikes, and the boulders were now stuck to the floor. Naruto put the boulders under the floor with yet another earth-style ninjutsu. Team seven cautiously walked up the slope, but there were no more traps there. However as soon as they entered the next corridor, Sasuke managed to set off an arrow-shooting trap. He and Kakashi quickly jumped out of the projectiles' way, but Sakura was too slow, and Naruto had to push her to the safety of the nearest corner. When the pink-haired kunoichi looked at her teammate, he was on his knees with a silent scream in his lips as a poisoned arrow was stuck in his shoulder. After several seconds Naruto managed to regain control over his body, and ripped the arrow from his shoulder. Moments later a crimson mist of Kyuubi's yoki started flowing from the wound, healing at a rate only Tsunade's special regeneration technique could hope to match.

"Are you OK?" Sakura asked the heavily breathing blond teen.

"Should be..." He answered with a pant following his words closely behind. "Let's... continue." Another quick lift ride later and the members of the Team seven found themselves in a giant chamber that had at least a meter of water on the floor. There were many wooden gangways over the water. No one knew what inhabited the waters of this chamber so they cautiously walked onto the gangways. A group of those monster-mosquitoes almost immediately attacked them.

The Konoha ninjas quickly dispatched the oversized insects using wind-styled ninjutsus and kunai with attached wire and continued on their way.

Several gangways later, three mantises attacked team seven from below. Thankfully, Naruto's shock seal dropped into the water stunned them long enough to kill them with small fireballs. Several more gangways, a couple of arrow-launching traps and three more monster-mosquitoes later team seven finally exited the chamber, only to find themselves in front of a crossroad. Exploring left passage took several hours, as there were many abandoned rooms, some of them with old bones or broken ceramics or even old scrolls written in a forgotten language.

As it was already quite late, Kakashi decided that they would now explore the right passage and find a place to settle for the night. This passage led to the one of smaller altar rooms of the temple. After disposing of two more mantis monsters and a horde of mosquitoes, Kakashi deemed the chamber, with only entrance, to be safe enough to stay in during the night.

*******

Four people were sneaking towards Konoha village. Despite strengthened security around the village, Hidden Leaf had only so many shinobi guarding it, so sneaking in was not impossible.

"Damn fucking leaf-suckers!" The only female of the group swore when she almost stepped onto a wire that could either be a trap or a security system sensor. Her three accomplices knowingly did a step back away from her. When she was angry, no one close to her was safe except for Orochimaru himself.

"Tayuya, shut up." A male with three pairs of arms hissed. "Do you want them to find us?" He silently thanked the gods when the kunoichi shut up. Disarming whatever this wire was, the four shinobi continued on their way. When they reached the walls of Hidden Leaf, the fattest member of the team created a tunnel under them, using earth-style ninjutsu. When they all were on the other side of the wall, he sealed the tunnel so it would not be easy to discover for a patrol of leaf ninja. Now inside the village, the four shinobi used a simple henge to change their appearances, before heading towards the Uchiha district, hiding in the shadows. When they reached the complex, they found it to be devoid of any human life...

"The fucking brat is not here!" The only kunoichi of the group swore again.

"Orochimaru-sama ordered us to meet him. It seems like we will have to wait." A two-headed gray-haired ninja, the final member of this team, said. "In the meantime we can spy on these..." He glanced at his female teammate. "...leaf-suckers."

"Agreed." The fat one said. "I hope there is something to eat in this hellhole." He added quietly.

"Shut up, fatass!!!" The kunoichi named Tayuya exploded, but was quickly silenced by the gray-haired teen's hand over her mouth. "Let me go you two-headed dick-head!"

"Be quiet." He hissed back. "Do you want us to be found?" Tayuya reluctantly shut up. "Now, I think, the boy wouldn't mind if we stay at his house, until he returns." Everyone nodded, and the four shinobi started looking for room s for themselves.

*******

Early in the morning, after a quick breakfast, Team seven continued exploring the temple complex, looking for any clues about the fate of the missing archeological expedition. They soon found their way into the main part of the temple with its massive stone columns and giant pools of greenish water. Team seven inspected all of the chambers that were on the upper level and in one of they finally found something that told them the expedition really was there. However, other than instruments and signs of a fight, including some blood on the floor and on the wall, there was nothing. Therefore, the four Konoha shinobi descended to the lower level of the main temple where they were attacked by four Mantises. Kakashi's fireball quickly took care of them.

After exploring four adjoining chambers and disposing of seven more half-snake beast, team seven had the whole building explored. So they exited it and entered the next one. It was a single large chamber of a cross in shape with two entrances. In all four recesses of the building, there were crosses. Five of them were empty, only smeared with blood. Another one was completely untouched. The final two had archeologists tied to them. The men looked hungry and barely alive with the wounds they had on their bodies.

Beside them, there were eleven of those Mantis things. The other four creatures looked much like badly mutated humans with reddish-brown skin, yellow demonic eyes. They had horns and spikes sticking from various parts of their bodies. One of the four had extra finger, four-inch-long claws on his hands, the other had elongated ears, and three pairs of arms sticking out of his back, the third one had crescent-shaped foot-long bone blades on his wrists and fangs sticking for an inch out of his mouth. The forth ...thing must have been female as a particular part of her anatomy was still present, but she now lacked a head, instead, eyes, ears, nose and mouth were located just above her breasts. She also had eight insect-looking legs and two pairs of arms that had three foot-long blades each.

"**Humans... Attack them!**" The one with crescent blades roared, and eleven half-snake monsters attacked the Konoha ninja by spitting slime.

"**Doton: keisei!**" Naruto yelled, raising a stonewall between his team and monsters. The wall was melted just five seconds later, but it fulfilled its purpose and protected Team seven. "**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba!**"

"**Katon: goukakyuu!**" Sasuke exhaled a large fireball, and two jutsu combined killed eight out of eleven monsters. Kakashi finished the rest with kunai to their heads.

"Well done, team." Kakashi said, uncovering his sharingan eye and looking straight at the four deformed humans in front of them. "Sasuke, take the one with crescent blades, Naruto, the one with arms on his back is yours. I will take on the rest. Sakura, you will provide support for us," He ordered, and his team nodded.

"**Stupid humans... Think you can beat us?**" The eight-legged female something hissed.

"**I will take the girl, she looks most delicious.**" Naruto's opponent added his two cents. Then he launched himself at Sakura, but the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, who was already in his sage mode hit him with his shoulder, sending monster flying into the wall.

"I don't think so" Naruto. The world seemed to shrink to just his own fight as he started a sequence of handseals. "**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" Power wind jutsu slammed into the wall, narrowly missing its target. "You feel much like a cursed seal." The blond shinobi commented. His opponent growled and tried to attack him with the arms that were on his back. Naruto quickly unsealed his special shuriken and, using it like it was katana, cut two of the monster-man's arms, spraying dark-red blood onto the floor.

"**What do you know about pain... Normal?**" The beast hissed. "**No, you know nothing... Even eating you alive won't be... comparable to the pain... Orochimaru caused us...**" It inhaled a lot of air, before exhaling it back with some kind of poisonous mist in the mix. The young jinchuuriki quickly did a hand sign and air exploded away from him.

"So a cursed seal it is." Naruto said to himself. "**Doton: yoma numa!**" A small but deadly swamp appeared underneath the monster-man, rendering him unable to move or evade attacks effectively. "This is the end." Naruto started another sequence of hand seals. "**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba!**" Wind blade sliced the creature's head off. Seeing this, Naruto turned around, ready to help any of his teammates or his sensei but suddenly his intuition screamed at him to dodge. He did just that, but he was a bit too slow and now he had three clawed wounds on his right side. Of course, the combined powers of Kyuubi yoki and sage chakra healed the wound in seconds... Turning back to his opponent, Naruto saw now the headless body preparing to attack him again. "Damn! It is still alive..." Naruto said under his breath. He tried to perform another jutsu, but found out that his body moved slower than he remembered it too: looks like some of that poisonous mist reached him, and it was mild paralytic poison... "**Fuuton: atsugai!**" The powerful wind ninjutsu hit the still immobilized body and tore it into shreds. Making sure that his opponent was finally dead and would not attack him again, Naruto turned back to other fights, just in time to see Sasuke put his kunai through his opponent's head. Uchiha boy, though, looked not very good: his right leg was broken, and he had several deep, poisoned cuts in his torso. Sakura just had a couple of wounds on her upper left arm. Kakashi too had killed his opponents, he was now missing his vest, but other than that, he just looked tired...

"Let's untie them and get away from this awful temple." Kakashi said. Naruto nodded and created three shadow clones to carry Sasuke and the two archeologists. Using the plan of the complex Kakashi had, they escaped it quickly and easily, having to face only five of those monster-mosquitoes...

* * *

Team seven dropped the archeologists they saved in the village, while the local postman gave Kakashi a scroll from the Hokage. It said that the company that hired this expedition payed Konoha for the rescue mission. So, after spending a night in the village, Team seven headed back to the Hidden Leaf.

*******

Sasuke Uchiha was lying in the hospital bed. It was already night, but his sleep didn't come to him; his thought were on the events of his last mission: once again this Naruto was more useful, than he was. And worse, this time he was badly wounded. Why was that no name blond better than he was?

"And this is the great and powerful last Uchiha of Konoha." Someone said contemptuously nearby.

"Don't know what Orochimaru-sama saw in him." Turning his head quickly, Sasuke saw a gray-haired two-headed teen sitting on the sill of the only window in the room.

"Who are you?" Sasuke hissed, looking at the teen with now-activated sharingan. However, it had no effect on the stranger, besides amusing him.

"Oh, what a pretty eyes you have there."

"Why you!" Sasuke hissed, releasing the control over his emotions that kept his cursed seal from activating. Almost immediately black flame-like pattern spread across his face and left part of his upper body.

"So, you can use Orochimaru-sama's gift? Orochimaru-sama will be delighted." The gray-haired teen replied, as black dot-like pattern spread across his own body. "But you are not the only one who was given this gift." He paused for a moment. "If you really want to get all the power Orochimaru-sama's gift can give, come with us. We will be waiting for you." With this, he left the room via a shunshin version Sasuke had never seen before, leaving the Uchiha boy thinking about this proposition.

* * *

That's all, folks! **Read & Review**!!!  
Oh, The final chapter for the "_**Jinchuuriki and huntresses**_" will be published within 22 days. Updates for "_**Pyro**_" and "_**the Demon and the Ghost**_" stories will most likely be published on the first week of may. After that I will be missing for a month - I do have exams to pass.  
And the final note, after I pass my exams, I will start a new story (_**Naruto**_, Naruto/Mei _or _Kagerou/Naruto/Mei), so stay tuned!


	16. Tempting Sound

Hello, everyone, I present you the newest chapter of "_**Konoha's young sage**_" story!

*** Review response**:  
**DarkFox2**, **RasenShuriken92**, **bleacher**, **Salamander Hanzo**, **Trooper0007**, **fanficreader71**, **eclipseX**, **c im am a dragon**, thank you!  
**shadowgouf**, hope, I didn't disappoint you.  
**Hollow-Unlimited**, I thought that the summary now gives a clear info about the main pairings of the story. **CloudBloodB ane**, this should answer you question too: Naruto/Fuu/Deidara pairings WILL NOT contain any yaoi. Heck, I'm not sure I'll do any threesome for this pairing. But Fuu will definitely have feelings for both boys.** the shadow overlord279**, Fuu will join the group before Deidara and at that time will want Naruto (some "action" will be there), after Deidara joins the group, she'll develop feeling for him too and in the very end will end with him.  
**Still Not Dead Yet**, well, yes, Yugito made guest appearance, but it was just that. After all, she'll join Naruto (well, Naruto'll join her) permanently soon. This is also the answer to your review too, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, read and see, what I wrote for the Sasuke-retrieval arc. =)

*** Jutsu list**:**  
Shikoku Mujin** - (B-rank) Four dark mist array - fuyunjutsu move needed for the activation of the cursed seal's second level. Softens the effect of the drug, so it puts into death-like state instead of killing.**  
Fuukoku Houin** - (B-rank) Dark sealing method - seals used for the protection the protection of the one, who undergoes activation of the second level of the cursed seal.**  
Kyuumon: kai** - Gate of Rest (second inner gate): release (open) - opens second inner gate (located in the right side of the head). Gives user temporary bonus of about 5x strength, 3x speed and about +15% of chakra. Downside of opening this inner gate is that user feels very tired after the gate is closed back.**  
Kage bunshin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to the user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering**  
Kuchiyose no jutsu** - (A-rank) Summoning - Time-space ninjutsu that summons object/animal (requires signed contract with that type of animals) to user's location**  
Doton: ****doryō dango **– (B-rank) Earth Style: Earth Mausoleum Dumpling - the user is able to overturn the earth into a large dumpling-shaped chunk of dirt the size of a mausoleum if they're strong enough they can lift up the ball and hurl it at his/her opponent, flattening everything in its path.**  
Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.**  
Doton: ****doryūheki**- (B-rank) Earth style: Mud Wall - This ninjutsu is used to defend against an incoming attack by creating a solid wall of earth. Chakra is converted to earth within the body and then spat out. This earth then instantly rises up and takes form. The barrier itself is also coated with chakra, making its strength incomparable to that of a normal mud wall.**  
Senpou: fuuton: hakutora gufuu** - (unranked sage jutsu / S+ rank) Sage Arts: Wind style: White Tiger Storm – this jutsu creates a large tornado. This tornado them splits into multiple wind-based tigers that will attack them target with their teeth and claws. If a tiger is destroy it's remains will form into a strong cutting wind. The justu was developed by one of the sage toads in the past. Naruto learned jutsu at ten at mt. Meboku while going through some old scrolls there unsupervised. The first time he attempted to use it, he had to spent almost two weeks in the medical ward with chakra exhaustion, despite having fully charged sage mode and full chakra reserves when trying.**  
Ame no shi**- (B-rank) Rain of Death - fuinjutsu attack: user throws the 'Ame no shi' (just a time-freezing containment seal) up into the air, where it releases around one hundred kunai (or any other heavy objects) with explosive tags attached to them. All explosive tags will explode at the same time, causing a lot of damage in the area.**  
Doton: doro gaeshi **– (C-rank) Earth Style: Underground Fish Projection – the technique is used to hide the user within the earth, it also enables the user to travel through the earth**  
Teshi sendan **- (clan jutsu) Drilling Finger Bullets – user fires/shoots the bones from their finger tips before regenerating them quickly, thus the rate of fire can be non-stop.**  
Go fuuin: takibi shokuhatsu** - (A rank fuyunjutsu) five seals: bonfire summoner – by applying five appropriate seals to kunai and placing them in a pentagram around the target the user may create/wield intense flames inside of the pentagram.**  
Sawarabi no mai** - (clan jutsu) Dance of the Seedling Fern - this jutsu causes a giant forest of bone spikes to burst from the ground. The user is able to emerge from any bone at will, giving them a deadly element of surprise should the opponent be able to avoid the attack.**  
Chidori** - (A-rank) (Lightning style) Thousand birds - this is an assassination jutsu utilizing lightning element, using which one can cut almost through anything. Due to the high speed of attack, the jutsu emits a sound like a thousand birds chirping which gave the technique its name. Because of the great amount of chakra needed to utilize the technique, the technique can only be used so many times during the day. Downside of this jutsu is that while user is attacking, he has troubles with dodging enemy's counterattack because of his tunnel vision. So this jutsu is most effective to kill immobilized opponent.**  
Katon: goukakyuu **- (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales fire from his mouth.**  
Doton: keisei** - (B-rank) Earth style: formation - jutsu of my own creation. Allows user to modify earth in a small area at his will. User need to stand on the ground to do this jutsu.**  
San fuuin: den shokuhatsu** - (low B-rank) three seals: lightning summoner– by place three appropriate seals on kunai an placing them in an equilateral triangle around the target, the user may charge weak electricity through the target to knock them unconscious. There is also much more powerful five-seal version (**go fuuin: den shhokuhatsu**) of this fuyunjutsu attack, but it has a good chance of killing the target.**  
Katon: housenka** - (C-rank) Fire style: Mythical Fire Phoenix** - **this fire jutsu creates series of small fireballs. The ninja can also hurl a projectile which is covered in these same flames.**  
Katon: karyūdan -**(unknown rank) Fire style: fire dragon missile – User breathes a stream of fire from the mouth**  
Katon: ****gouryuka** - (B-rank) Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique- the user expels dragon head fireballs at their opponent. These powerful fireballs can punch through concrete.**  
Onipou: tama shaei **– (unranked demonic jutsu) Demonic arts: soul projection - this is a very special jutsu that allows its caster to create a manifestation of soul in the physical world. User can't project his own soul, but he can do this to any other soul that inhabits his body. User can control whether 'projected' soul can or can't do any jutsu (energy for them will be taken from projected soul's chakra/yoki reserves) and if it can, up to which level it can. Theoretically, all jinchuuriki and Tengu demons can perform this jutsu.**  
Onipou: katon: akai jun**** - **(unranked demonic jutsu) demonic arts: fire style: red shield** – **user creates a semi-spherical shield of yoki in front of him/her. The shield can withstandalmost any non-demonic fire attacks, as well as most of wind, earth and lightning jutsus, but is rather weak against water-based attacks.**  
Onipou: katon: atsui kanazuchi ****- **(unranked demonic jutsu) demonic arts: fire style: fiery hammer** – **user draws a circle in the air, before placing a hand in the center of the said circle. This results in a powerful beam of energy being released.**  
Kuroi chidori** - (S-rank) (Lightning style) dark chidori - chidori powered with the chakra from the cursed seal.**  
Shunshin -** (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu**  
Kawarimi** - (E-rank) Change of body stance - substitutes user with nearby object.

* * *

**Now, some rant**:  
* Before you accuse me for writing super-Naruto, remember, our jinchuuriki has chakra reserves close to high-jounin level by now. Then multiply that amount by 10 (sage mode boost) and you'll get roughly the amount of chakra needed to pull **hakutora gufuu** jutsu. As you can see, it is well above what average Kage has. And it took Naruto thirty minutes to recover from using the jutsu too.  
* Kyuubi knows that she shouldn't kill Sasuke. So all her moves against him are not lethal, though they can result easily in a bruises and broken bones.  
* Pareo is Spanish (correct me if I'm wrong there) big shawl. Usually worn by females around their shoulders, in stead of top or a skirt or as a substitution for a short dress.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

**_

* * *

_**Special thanks to _**CloudBloodBane **_for beta-reading this chapter!

* * *

**Konoha's young sage**  
**Chapter**** 13: Tempting sound**

A week later, when Sasuke was finally released from the hospital, the first thing he did, he tried to find that strange gray-haired teen that had the cursed seal. Finally, he found him and three more of Orochimaru's subordinates in his clan compound in one of the unused buildings and, well, he wasn't very happy with their choice of accommodation.

"What the fuck are you doing in my house?" The last Uchiha in Konoha roared. None of his uninvited guests even flinched.

"Shut your fuckin' trap, brat!" The red-haired girl shot back. Then she remembered that they were supposed to persuade the Uchiha to join Orochimaru willingly, so yelling at him wasn't the best course of action. "We are here to take you to Orochimaru-sama. Your house seemed to be the most likely place for you show up." Sasuke took a deep breath to calm down.

"You said, you can show me the true strength of his gift." He said to the gray-haired teen, referring to the cursed seal. "Show it to me." Sakon sighed.

"It's not wise to use the second level here. Leaf huggers may sense us." He paused, looking at the ceiling for a moment. "Meet us in an hour in the clearing by the round lake outside the village walls." Sasuke reluctantly nodded. "Let's go. We can't be seen with him right now." Sakon said to the rest of the Sound four, before shunshin'ing away.

"Who the fuck made you our commander, you two-headed freak!" The only girl of the group yelled, but still followed his example and left. The fat guy and a man with six arms were hot on her heels, thus leaving Sasuke alone in room. The Uchiha boy sighed tiredly, but went to where they said they would meet him. He reached the village gates without any problems.

"Where are you going this late, Uchiha-san?" The chunin guard asked in a bored tone.

"I'm going to train. Now let me go." Sasuke said in an annoyed tone. The chunin only sighed and, placing a mark into the registry, let him outside the village... It took Sasuke about fifteen minutes from there to reach the lake, but when he arrived, the Sound four were already there.

"I take it you had no problems with leaving the village?" Sakon asked, standing up from his place under large oak.

"I am the Uchiha. I can do everything here." Uchiha boy stated more than a bit arrogantly. Sakon shook his head, while Tayuya decided to once again voice her thoughts.

"Uchiha or not, cut you fuckin' ego, shithead!"

"Ladies don't swear." The fat man said from behind her.

"Shut up fat-ass!" Tayuya barked back. "Now, you wanted to see what Orochimaru-sama's gift can do?" She asked, looking straight into Sasuke's sharingan eyes. "Fine, we will show you." A black lightning-like pattern began spreading across her skin. "This is the level one. You already can use it." Then black marks turned red and started growing in width, until they covered her entire body, radiating a lot of tainted energy at the same time. Tayuya's hair grew lighter and increased their length, now reaching her bum. Six thick white horns grew from her head while red color covering her skin turned brownish-bronze and stayed like that. The redhead opened her eyes that now were golden colored with black whites. "**This is the second level of the seal. It further increases our abilities and, sometimes, gives some extra powers.**" She jumped up the tree, stopping at the branch that was as thick as her waist. Standing on the tree trunk, Tayuya wrapped her arms around the branch and ripped it off the tree with little problem. "**This is the power of the second level. If you want to get it, come with us.**" She said, returning back to normal and jumping down onto the ground.

"Fine, I'll go with you." Sasuke stated. "I need this power." He paused for a moment. "But I need to collect my things." The Sound Four nodded.

"We will be waiting here for you..." Sakon said. "Oh... Now that you are with us, we shall introduce ourselves. I'm Sakon of the Sound four and this is..." He said, pointing to the unmoving head sticking out of his back. "...my twin brother, Ukon."

"I'm Tayuya." Red-haired Sound kunoichi said. "That fat-ass behind me is Jirobo, and the six-armed freak is Kidomaru." Sasuke nodded, before leaving the clearing. Finally, he had his ticket to the power that will crush his brother!

* * *

Three hours later Sasuke returned to the clearing, carrying a backpack and muttering something about 'damned village guards' under his breath.

"Let's get to Orochimaru." Sasuke said. Sakon sighed.

"As you are in our care right now, you will follow the plan." Sasuke let out 'hmph' sound, but nodded.

"We will run twenty kilometers to the north. There is a big hidden clearing. We will put you in a death-like state that's needed to activate the second level of your seal. Once it's done, we will carry you the rest of the way to the Hidden Sound."

"Fine, let's go." Sasuke said impatiently. The members of the Sound four nodded and the five of them were on their way... Forty minutes later five shinobi reached the clearing Sakon was talking about. When everyone had caught their breath, Kidomaru produced a small vial with pea-sized black pills from a pocket in his robes.

"Take one and swallow it." He said to Sasuke. "It will be the first step to activate the second level of your seal." Sasuke nodded and did as he was told. Several moments after the pill was swallowed, Sasuke's eyes widened, before closing completely, and the boy fell limply into Kidomaru's arms. "Now we can proceed."

Sakon opened the scroll he was caring in his robes and unsealed a large barrel-like casket from it. Knowing what he must do, Kidomaru placed Sasuke's body into the casket.

"**Shikoku Mujin!**" Four members of the Sound four said simultaneously, as the purplish tainted chakra from their cursed seals entered the casket. When it was full and the jutsu was finished, Jirobo closed the casket. Sakon took five paper tags with special seals on them.

"**Fuukoku Houin!**" The tags applied themselves to the casket sealing the dark energy in it. "It is done. No we shall bring him to Orochimaru-sama." Jirobo, Kidomaru and Tayuya nodded. "Let's go." Jirobo picked up the casket, and the Sound four were on their way to the snake's lair...

/ ******* \

As Kakashi was away on a mission – the village was still low on manpower after the battle during the chunin exam finals – so he left the exercises for Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke to do, as well as a number of D-rank – or C-rank missions he wanted them to complete. It was seven in the morning, when Naruto approached the Uchiha compound, hoping to persuade Sasuke to do a mission in the morning today, but when he entered the compound, it was completely empty. Feeling that something was wrong, the blond jinchuuriki decided to check Sasuke's room. He found, that all essentials were taken from it. Sasuke ran away. Summoning a single shadow clone, Naruto ordered it to go to the Hokage and tell her what happened. He himself decided to find his other teammate...

Tsunade was sleeping, her head on the pile of documents when a blond whirlwind named Naruto stormed into her office.

"Baa-chan!" Naruto yelled, waking the Godaime Hokage up. "We have an emergency! Uchiha Sasuke left Konoha!" The news woke Tsunade up completely.

"What?" She shouted, so loudly that chunins at the front doors of the tower probably heard her.

"I said Uchiha Sasuke left Konoha! Most likely, he did it willingly: his essentials were taken from his house." The Hokage thought about what to do now.

"They had up to eight hours of a head-start. Naruto, I want you to organize a group to bring him back, by force if needed. You have twenty minutes to gather as many people as you can. As long as there are no chunin or jounin in the group, you'll be in command!" Tsunade barked her order. "Dismissed." Naruto in front of her made a cross-shaped handseal and disappeared in a poof of smoke, sending the information to the original and leaving a very surprised Hokage alone in her office.

* * *

Naruto was just a block away from Sakura's house, when his clone dispelled, sending him information about the Hokage's order.

"**Kage bunshin!**" Eight shadow clones popped into existence. "Spread around the village. Find every strong shinobi who's off duty right now and ask them if they'll join the Sasuke-retrieval mission. If they join, tell then to meet at the northern gates twenty minutes from now." All the clones nodded and ran in different directions. The real Naruto covered the rest of the way to Sakura's house and knocked on the door. Several seconds later he heard the pink-haired kunoichi coming sleepily, before she finally opened the door.

"Naruto?" She asked and then yawned. "What do you want this early in the morning?"

"I wanted us to do a mission this morning so that we could have the whole afternoon for training, but the situation changed. Sasuke most likely defected from the village." Sakura was immediately awake and stared at her teammate with a horror on her face.

"H-H-How? Why?" She asked no one in particular, sobbing.

"We don't know..." Naruto answered. "Right now the Hokage is organizing a mission to bring him back." He informed the girl.

"I'm going." Sakura stated with a determination burning in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but no." Naruto said. "I don't want to say that you are weak, but he, most likely, had help from a group of ninja under Orochimaru's command who are at least chunin in strength. That is out of your league for now." The pink-haired kunoichi began crying. "Don't worry, we will bring him back." He stayed there for a minute. "I'm sorry, but I must be going. The mission is about to start." And he left her house, heading towards the gates...

* * *

When he arrived there, four shinobi were waiting for him there: Rock Lee, whom Tsunade returned to the active duty not a week ago, Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara and Neji Hyuuga.

"You were already informed by my clones what this is about, right?" Naruto asked. The four other ninjas nodded. "Now, since Shikamaru here is chunin, he will take the command as ordered by our Hokage. Shikamaru, if you will?"

"Troublesome..." Lazy boy muttered. "While Sasuke never was my friend and I don't like him much, he is still our comrade, and it's our task to bring him back to Konoha. We will do it..." Nara heir paused for a moment. "Before we start, let me check your equipment." Shikamaru then did as he said, checking what and how many tools every member of the team had with them. "Well, now let me tell you the order we will be moving. Shino will take the front, Lee, Naruto and I will be in the middle, and Neji will take the rear." Others nodded. "Shino, can your bugs find Sasuke's scent?" Shino let out a group of his kikaichu bugs and ordered them to find the Uchiha by his scent. Naruto had another idea for tracking their target.

"Shikamaru, it's the fact that Sasuke has cursed seal on him, and this seal has a very specific aura. Wouldn't it be easier to track him by this aura?" Naruto asked. Shikamaru nodded.

"You can do that, Naruto?"

"I'm a sensor, though a bit short-ranged, and we are too late for me to track the aura by myself, but one of my summons should be able to pick track the aura." Naruto said.

"Do it." Naruto nodded and bit his finger, drawing some blood. Then he flashed through a sequence of handseals.

"**Kuchiyose no jutsu!**" In a cloud of smoke a gray pigeon sized toad with goggles and a metallic device on its back appeared. "Good morning, Gamasoru."

"Mornin' Naruto. Wha' do ya wan'?" The toad asked.

"We need to track a person with a cursed seal on him. He had a head-start of five to seven hours. Can you help us." The toad touched the seals on its goggles, making them glow, and looked around.

"Ya! It's faint but I can see it... Wha'e foul thin'... Follow me!" The toad jumped into the air and spread its mechanical bat-like wings.

"Let's go!" Shikamaru said.

"For the springtime of youth, we will bring Sasuke-san back! If we fail, we will run a hundred laps around the village on our hands!" Lee yelled, making everyone else face palm...

* * *

After six hours of nonstop running, Gamasoru told everyone that they were now just three hours behind the Sound four and Sasuke. The group of Konoha ninjas managed to gain this much time on their opponents because the Oto shinobi had, apparently, stopped several times to create trap fields, but those were quickly destroyed with the help of Naruto's clones. By this time, everyone but Naruto and Lee had already taken their first soldier's pill: everyone was tired from running through the dense forests of Fire country. But their opponents should be too, so not everything was bad... Suddenly Gamasoru stopped.

"They 'r restin', five hun'red meters at eleven o'clock." The toad said. Shikamaru nodded.

"Neji?" He asked. The Hyuuga boy nodded and activated his byakugan. For almost half a minute he was observing the camp of the Sound four.

"I can see only four ninjas. None of them are Sasuke Uchiha. There's also a large barrel filled with dark energy not unlike the one of the cursed seal, with a human body inside. This body is most likely to be Sasuke..." The Nara heir nodded. "I can see several signal seals on the camp's perimeter, but nothing more." Shikamaru nodded again.

"Listen, everyone. This is our chance. We shall cautiously approach their camp and then try to take that barrel from them." He paused to think of the optimal strategy here. "Lee and I will approach them from south-east, Neji and Shino – from south-west, Naruto – from south. One of us will take the barrel and run while the rest will try to hold the Oto ninjas off." Everyone reluctantly nodded. "Let's go." Naruto turned to his summon.

"Thanks, Gamasoru. You can go." The toad nodded and disappeared in a cloud of white smoke...

* * *

Kidomaru suddenly felt someone touch his spider web, meaning their pursuers were already here. The six-armed man extended his senses to the limit, but couldn't feel anyone who isn't supposed to be there within thirty meters from him.

"Everyone up!" He said, using sticks to wake the rest of the Sound four up. "We have guests."

"So, tree huggers are here? Fine, we'll kick their shitty asses!" Tayuya declared.

"Whatever. Prepare, they are close now." Sakon, who was a better sensor said and just like he predicted, a boy with a pineapple haircut in a Leaf chunin vest jumped down from the tree. The boy tried to do something, but Kidomaru yanked his web, making Shikamaru fall. Several meters behind him another boy, in a green spandex suit, fell from the tree. Kidomaru did the same with the other set of webs, making two other Leaf ninjas, Shino and Neji, join their comrades on the ground.

"Jirobo?" The fat man didn't need to be told twice.

"**Doton: ****doryō dango****!**" He ripped a giant stone form the ground and threw it at Shikamaru and Lee. But before the projectile could reach its target, it was broken into pieces and sent away from the two Konoha shinobi by a very powerful wind jutsu.

"Long time, no see" Naruto said, calmly walking into the clearing, red marks around his eyes signifying that he was in the sage mode. "**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" The attack hit Kidomaru who wasn't fast enough to get away, making him release his captives. Seeing how powerful the five Konoha ninjas were, the Sound four, minus Kidomaru, entered their first levels of the cursed seals.

"**Kuchiyose no jutsu!**" Tayuya summoned her three doki. She immediately started playing her flute, making the three demons attack Naruto with semi-transparent worm like things, but as soon as those things ate enough chakra from the blond, they turned into the stone, so she called what was left from them back. On her left Jirobo was quite effectively fighting against Shino and Neji while Sakon on her right was toying with Lee and Shikamaru... Kidomaru was back and ready to continue their mission.

"Jirobo!" Without saying anything more, the six-armed man picked the casket with Sasuke up and began running towards Rice country.

"They are getting Sasuke away." Shino said.

"**Doton: ****doryūheki****!**" Jirobou raised a thick twenty meters high wall around the clearing, capturing everyone minus Kidomaru with the casket inside. "You aren't going anywhere, kiddies." He said with a growl. "We are gonna kill you lot here."

Seeing that the situation had changed, Naruto gave the 'be ready' signal to the rest of Leaf ninjas. Then he fished a smoke bomb from his pouch and threw it onto the ground, creating the smoke screen around himself. Tayuya's doki attacked the spot where Naruto was a moment ago, but now no one was there. Suddenly two Narutos, both in sage modes, rose from the ground, one in front of Shikamaru and Lee, the other – in front of Shino and Neji. Both Narutos grabbed their pair of comrades and threw them over the wall before dispelling themselves. The real blond slowly rose from the ground in the center of the wall ring.

"You know that you are committing suicide by trying to face all of us alone?" Sakon asked. "When we are done with you, we will kill the rest of your team."

Naruto shook his head.

"You will have to kill me first. But there is a small problem with that..." He started flashing through handseals. '_**Kyuumon: kai!**_' With his second inner gates opened, he should have enough chakra to do this attack. "**Senpou: fuuton: hakutora gufuu!**" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki unleashed the most powerful attack he knew. A giant tornado descended from the sky around him, making the three members of the Sound four present freeze in their places and shiver from the fear. For several seconds the tornado just stood around its caster, not doing anything overly destructive, but then it exploded into hundreds of wind-made tigers that attacked everything around them with their teeth and claws and if one was destroyed, it exploded into a ball of strong cutting wind... A minute later, when the jutsu died down, the wall around the clearing was reduced to mountains of debris as was a good part of the forest around the clearing. Tayuya, Sakon and Jirobou were torn into tiny pieces that were everywhere on the ground within the clearing. The earth itself was red with their blood. All three were, without any doubt, dead. Seconds later, Naruto himself collapsed onto the ground too exhausted to move right now. He was very thankful that he recharged his sage mode while underground, or this jutsu might have killed him too. Naruto began gathering sage chakra again, to refill his own reserves... It was a rather slow and boring process, but half an hour later the Kyuubi jinchuuriki felt like he could continue the mission. Using his sage senses, he felt the trail of tainted chakra from the cursed seal and followed it, going north-north-west, towards the Rice country.

* * *

It took Naruto almost an entire hour to catch up with the rest of Konoha team. He was still in the forest when then entered another big clearing. Kidomaru, whom was just ahead of them, was on the other side of the clearing. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki sighed in relief, that the tiresome mission was almost over, but something went wrong. Bone spears flew from the opposite side of the clearing, hitting Shikamaru, Shino and Lee and nailing them to the ground. Thankfully, those three weren't killed outright, but it was a good chance that they will bleed to death if the fight with the unknown enemy lasted more than a couple of minutes. Naruto looked at Neji, who managed to protect himself with 'kaiten'. The boy was panting, obviously tired and low on chakra.

"We need to end this fast." The blond shinobi said. Neji nodded in agreement.

"**Byakugan!**" Neji kept his bloodline deactivated during the chasing, activating it only once a minute or so, to conserve his chakra. But right now, the situation demanded for him to use it... Without much problem the Hyuuga genius located their new opponent – a white haired pale teen with two red dots on his forehead – in the tree on the opposite side of the clearing. "I'll be damned, we're facing a Kaguya!" Neji exclaimed. "And a very strong one. Plus he too has cursed seal."

"Then we need to finish this very fast." Naruto tried to think about what to do now. He definitely needed them to have some chakra left to take the barrel with Sasuke from Kidomaru. And to have something left after that so that they could at least run from Orochimaru's minions for some time. Plus there was a possibility that they'll have to fight Sasuke himself too. So the seal were the best option for now. The problem – they were facing a taijutsu and, most likely, kenjutsu specialist.

"Neji, guard them while my clones apply stasis seals." Naruto said, referring to their fallen teammates. "**Kage bunshin!**" Three clones popped into the existence and immediately started working: stasis seals first, animal repelling seals second and chakra beacon seals in the end.

"For you lot to take down three members of the Sound five is an admirable achievement." The Kaguya spoke as he entered the clearing, calmly approaching the Leaf ninja. "But you won't go any further. Orochimaru-sama orders." Naruto had other thought on the matter.

"**Ame no shi!**" He was glad he recreated this sealing tag during the last week. Kunai flew up into the sky over the clearing, and exploded there, raining lots of kunai with explosive tags down. "**Doton: doro gaeshi!**" Kyuubi jinchuuriki created a barrier to protect himself and his teammates from the explosion. When it happened, the blond ninja released the wall, only to find out that 'ame no shi' attack did nothing more than tearing his opponent's clothes and giving him several burns.

"**Teshi sendan!**" Both Naruto and Neji were caught by surprise when their opponent shot his own finger bones and didn't dodge in time. Neji went down with one of the projectiles piercing his stomach and two other – his right lung. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki got one through his left shoulder, another one took a part of his right ear, and one more hit his pelvis, making it crack. He also got a small wound on his left hip. Kyuubi inside him immediately started healing his wounds, starting with the removal of the projectile from his body. Now it was Kimimaro Kaguya's turn to be surprised: no one, besides Orochimaru himself, could be hit by this attack and continue standing. With his pain lessened, thanks to Kyuubi and sage mode, Naruto was back into action. He decided to use one of his experimental seals. So he took five kunai from his pouch and attached the tags to them, before throwing the knives so that they'll form roughly equilateral pentagon around Kimimaro, who only raised his eyebrow, expecting it to be some kind of weak barrier seals...

"**Go fuuin: takibi shokuhatsu!**" The Kaguya saw a barrier surround him as well as a fiery-orange pentagram appearing on the ground. Cursing himself for underestimating the boy's seals, Kimimaro activated his cursed seal straight to the second level, turning himself into a more draconic creature, and grew a bone shield on his body. Just when he was done, a pillar of white-hot fire exploded from the ground, trying to burn everything within the barrier. Ten seconds later, when the seals finished working, Kimimaro was still standing, but he was badly burnt and was now missing his tail. Feeling his illness ready to claim his life, Kaguya chose to take all five Konoha ninjas with him to the next world.

"**Sawarabi no mai!**" But before giant bone spears springing from under the ground could reach the edge of clearing, a single kunai flew past his head. Shrapnel tag attached to it exploded, and Kaguya Kimimaro was no more... Naruto, now having killed his opponent, immediately started treating Neji's wounds. Having only basic medical skills, he could do nothing more than put stasis seals on the boy and it was exactly what was done. Animal repelling seal and chakra beacon seals followed. Naruto sighed. Even with his sage mode replenishing his normal chakra reserves, right now he had less that third of his normal chakra: a little more than average fresh-out-of-the-academy genin. With this much, continuing the mission was close to the suicide, especially since it was unknown, whether Orochimaru had more men securing the operation's success. But the mission must be done... The young jinchuuriki was still about hundred miles from the Rice country borders, so he could allow himself about half an hour of time to rest and collect chakra from nature...

* * *

Surprisingly enough, catching up with Kidomaru was much easier, than Naruto anticipated: the six-armed man had to be running non-stop since Jirobo tried to capture the Leaf team in that clearing, so he was tired and thus slow. Deciding to act like true shinobi in old days for once, Naruto used simple 'doton: dochuu eigyo' jutsu and then attacked the spider-man with a sage-powered uppercut from under the ground. A crack of bones signified, that Kidomaru now had broken ribs and (very likely) spine and was out of the fight for good... Too bad, exactly at the same time seals on the casket went off and released a transformed, but quickly reverting back to normal, Sasuke. A pair of sharingan eyes stared into Naruto's toad-like ones.

"What are you doing here, dobe?" Sasuke asked with a sneer.

"I'm here to take you back to Konoha." Naruto said, completely ignoring the sneer.

"Like I want to be held back by that pathetic village! I need power!" Sasuke exclaimed with a mad expression on his face. Naruto shook his head.

"Then I'll take you back by force. I have a mission to bring you back, and I'll complete it." He said, almost calmly, making the dark-haired boy in front of him explode.

"Eat this!" Uchiha boy flashed through a sequence of three handseals, before lightning started blazing in his left hand. "**Chidori!**" He charged at the blond... Naruto just covered his arms with wind chakra and caught Sasuke's jutsu. Seeing that the attack failed, Sasuke did the next one, signified only by a single one-handed handseal. "**Katon: goukakyuu!**" He exhaled a large fireball, only for Naruto to use kawarimi and replace himself with the barrel's lid.

"**Doton: keisei!**" The blond ninja had his both hands pressed to the ground as stone tentacles began attacking his opponent. The Uchiha evaded the first several attacks and then decided to counterattack, sending another fireball at Naruto. Only to have it blocked by a stone wall that rose in front of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Naruto retaliated by turning the wall into stone spears and sending them flying at Sasuke, who avoided them with kawarimi.

'_Damn, I need to end this fight soon!_' Naruto thought as his sage mode ended. Reaching into his pouch, he picked three identical tags and attacked them to kunai, his last ones, before throwing them in Sasuke's direction, making them form an equilateral triangle around the dark-haired boy. "**San fuuin: den shokuhatsu!**" Naruto hoped that with these seals he'll be able to fry the Uchiha into unconsciousness. But Sasuke activated the first level of his cursed seal and the amount of chakra radiated from him disrupted the weak three-seal-based attack, but the time the seals were active gave Naruto a chance to recharge his sage mode.

"**That wasn't nice!**" Sasuke, whose body was now covered with black flame-like patterns, roared. "**I will kill you, pathetic fool!**" Faster than the blond shinobi had ever seen him, the Uchiha flashed through handseals. "**Katon: housenka!**" Sasuke sent a dozen shurikens hidden in small fireballs at Naruto, forcing him to dive to the right. "**Katon: ****karyūdan****!**" Sasuke exhaled a long stream of fire and his opponent, who having nowhere to dodge, had to raise an earth wall to protect himself. "**Chidori!**" The lightning blade pierced stone wall like it was a piece of paper and left a sizable wound on Naruto's left forearm as he was too slow to evade the attack. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki twirled around Sasuke's still active chidori and punched the wall, sending a rain of stone debris at the Uchiha.

"**Doton: keisei!**" Naruto tried to bind Sasuke with stone tentacles, but still active chidori nullified this attempt.

"**Stop standing in my way to power!**" The dark-haired boy roared. "**I will kill you!**" The feeling of tainted chakra flowing from his body greatly intensified. Black flame-like pattern on his skin turned red and began expanding, covering his entire body, before turning purplish-gray, the new color of Sasuke's skin. The Uchiha now also had a big dark-gray cross on his nose. A couple of seconds later, a pair of hand-like wings grew from his back, tearing his T-shirt apart. His eyes, still sharingan, now had black whites. Sasuke entered his second level of the cursed seal. "**Katon: gouryuuka!**" Dragon head-shaped fireball flew at a mad speed towards Naruto, who raised a thick stone wall to protect himself, at the same time going into his subconscious.

* * *

Without any problems, Naruto found his way into the seal through his jungle-like mindscape. Finding Kyuubi herself proved to be a little more difficult task, but no time was wasted there too, as a couple of moments of hiding later the vixen, naked as usual, appeared in front of Naruto, immediately wrapping her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"**Hello there, Naru-kun.**" She purred into his ear. Then she leaned back and looked straight into his eyes. "**Have you come here to ask for my help?**" Naruto nodded. "**Then you know the payment.**" She stated. The blond demon container sighed and pressed his lips against her. Moments later Kyuubi parted her lips slightly, making him do the same, and then assaulted his mouth with her tongue, having him fight hers with his own one. Minutes later they separated, breaking the kiss. "**Mmm...**" The demoness moaned contently. "**My my, Naruto-kun is growing up. He's kissing girls now.**" She said hotly. Naruto stiffened, and his right hand slipped from her waist down onto her bum "**Mmm... You already want there? Don't you have a fight to finish first?**" Kyuubi watched Naruto's face do a good resemblance of a tomato... The blond shinobi coughed.

"Do you want to... fight him yourself?" He asked. The vixen in his mind nodded.

"**Yeah, I needed to stretch my ol' bones anyway.**" She replied, finally letting him go out of her embrace. Naruto nodded and returned to the reality.

* * *

Sasuke's last fireball just destroyed his stone wall... the Kyuubi jinchuuriki flashed through handseals.

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" A very strong, sage powered, gust of wind hit Sasuke, sending him flying into the tree behind him. Naruto quickly performed another sequence of handseals. "**Onipou: tama shaei!**" A red mist of yoki started flowing from his body, spreading heavy suffocating waves of killer intent around, and quickly manifested into Kyuubi's avatar: red semi-transparent form of her human body, though she 'put' pareo 'on' as a skirt. Sasuke was openly ogling her, much to her irritation.

"**What are you?**" Uchiha said, before demanding: "**Give me your power. Become mine.**" The vixen sighed and shook her head.

"**Shut up, ningen. I belong to Naruto-kun and no one else.**" She replied, making Sasuke let out a growl of anger.

"**Then I'll kill him and take you by force!**" Kyuubi again shook her head.

'_**What a fool...**_' She thought, preparing to protect her container and her love from whatever jutsu the Uchiha was preparing to launch at them. She didn't have to wait long for the attack to come, though.

"**Katon: ****karyūdan****!**" Sasuke exhaled a stream of fire, losing his target from his sight. He knew that the girl was a ghost, so his attack should do her no damage...

"**Onipou: katon: akai jun!**" Kyuubi raised her arm, making a red semi-transparent semi-sphere shimmer into existence in front of her, redirecting the fire away from her and Naruto... When the Uchiha ended his jutsu, he saw that he absolutely failed in dealing any damage to the blond shinobi. The vixen glared at him, before drawing a fire circle in the air, followed by placing her palm on the center of the said circle. "**Onipou: katon: atsui kanazuchi!**" A beam of orange energy erupted from the circle. Only kawarimi saved Sasuke from being hit by this jutsu, which would have being a very bad thing, judging by the destroyed forest. The fight needed to be ended soon... Using his wings, Sasuke launched himself into the air, simultaneously performing a sequence of handseals.

"**Kuroi chidori!**" Dark, having streaks of purple and gray, lightning came to like in his left hand. His jutsu ready, Sasuke flew towards Naruto at the breakneck speed, only to have his hand caught by Kyuubi and moment later being sent through the nearest tree. Naruto's vixen pointer her index and middle fingers of her right hand at him and fired a beam of concentrated yoki, sending the Uchiha through this tree too.

"**You can finish things on your own now, Naruto-kun.**" Kyuubi said, materializing enough to kiss him fiercely, before dissipating into the red mist and returning into the seal. '_**I love you, my Naruto-kun.**_'

'_Love you too, Kyuubi-chan._' Naruto replied in his mind, before dashing towards the rising Sasuke. Seeing his enemy charging at him, the Uchiha lashed his wing at him. However Naruto caught it and tried to throw him over himself, only to rip the said wing from Sasuke's body. Sasuke hissed in pain as he landed roughly onto the ground. Seeing this as his chance to end the fight, Naruto fished a shocking tag from his pouch and, approaching the fallen Sasuke before he could retaliate, and placed it on his forehead. A flash of lightning chakra later Uchiha Sasuke was knocked unconscious, his body slowly reverting to normal... Naruto looked at his opponent. Sasuke clothes were mostly torn; his body had multiple cuts and bruises and there was a patch of missing skin on his back, where the wing was torn. Now that his sage mode had worn off, Naruto knew that he was in no better shape, having multiple wounds from his fight with Kimimaro still present as well as the new ones and he had chakra exhaustion on top of everything... But he still had a mission to complete, so the young jinchuuriki tied Sasuke up and, picking him up, began the long way back to the Hidden Leaf...

/ ******* \

Naruto woke up to the sight of the white ceiling of a Konoha hospital room. As he didn't remember going there after the mission, or entering the village at all, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki deduced that he must have blacked out somewhere on his way back to the Hidden Leaf. He felt completely healed, albeit still tired. Sitting up he looked around. The curtains on the window were closed, but he could still say that it was around midday with Konoha's usual hot sunny weather present... He continued inspecting the room, but other than some medical charts and a vase with flowers on the table by his bed, there was nothing interesting, so he lay back on his bed. About an hour later, Tsunade entered the room and saw that he was awake.

"Good morning, brat. How are you?" Tsunade asked, while looking through the charts.

"Other than being tired and a little sore, I'm fine." The woman chuckled.

"Being tired is to be expected with chakra exhaustion the size of yours when you came here." She nodded to herself and ran a diagnostic jutsu on him. "Well, I don't see any reason to keep you there for too long, so you can leave tomorrow morning." She turned around to leave, but stopped. "By the way, congratulations on completing the mission. Payment was sent to your bank account."

"How are Shikamaru, Neji, Shino and Lee? I remember them being wounded quite badly." He asked.

"They are all fine, though Neji still hasn't woken up yet." Naruto nodded. No one of his teammates had died on the mission...

/ ******* \

After he was released from the hospital, Naruto went to the bank to collect his reward from the mission. For some reason he liked to have his money sealed in something somewhere on his body instead of them lying somewhere in the banks' safes... Having done that, he headed home, where he was greeted by Kin who was happy that he returned in one piece. From her Naruto learned that he was out for three days after Kakashi brought him and Sasuke to the village. Now finally home, Naruto wrote his part of the mission report, before sending his shadow clone to deliver it to the Hokage... Naruto was having a lazy afternoon until someone knocked on his door. When he opened it, he found himself face to face with a couple of ANBU in blank masks.

"Uzumaki Naruto, your presence is required in the council chamber in thirty minutes." One of the ANBU said in an emotionless voice, modified by the seals drawn on the inside of the mask. Sighing, Naruto called back into his apartment:

"Kin-chan. I'm going out, I should be back by dinner time." He heard the girl acknowledge this, and exited into the corridor, closing his door behind him.

"We shall bring you to the waiting chambers." The second ANBU said, placing his hand heavily on Naruto's shoulder and doing a single handseal for the shunshin technique...

* * *

Those twenty five-something minutes Naruto spent in the waiting chamber seemed like several hours to him. While he didn't know the exact reason why he was requested to be there, he had a damn good idea about it, and the Ne ANBU that brought him there were only giving more credibility to his guess. Finally he was called. When he entered the council chamber, the first thing he noticed was that the entire civilian council was there, as well as both of the Hokage's advisers and the old war-hawk Danzo. The Hokage herself wasn't there; the same could be said about several clan heads.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are brought in front of the honorable council of Konohagakure no Sato on charges of attempting to kill or maim the last loyal Uchiha and using demonic chakra to do so as well as endangering the lives and health of chunin Shikamaru Nara, and genins Rock Lee, Aburame Shino and Neji Hyuuga. How do you plead?" Danzo asked, looking with his only visible eye at Naruto.

"The Konoha council is forbidden to do anything without the Hokage's presence as long as he or she is alive and within the village walls. You have no right to run this process without Tsunade-sama present." Naruto answered calmly.

"Boy, do you know whom you are speaking to?" Danzo growled. "Answer our question, or I will have you executed right where you are standing."

"Unfortunately for you, Danzo-dono, he is right and if you try something, I will personally protect the boy. Send for the Hokage, so that we can start the process keeping up the law." Hiashi Hyuuga, Neji's uncle said standing up. Danzo growled louder, but nodded. Even with his Ne ANBU, he didn't want to make the Hyuuga clan his enemies. Five minutes later an annoyed and angry Tsunade joined the council. After a good measure of time she spent arguing with the elders, the process of Uzumaki Naruto continued. Danzo reread his accusations.

"I plead the first and the last not guilty. I plead the second in the way you formulated it not guilty." Was Naruto's answer.

"Please, elaborate on the second, Naruto-san." Aburame Shibi asked.

"Well, it was formulated that I used Kyuubi's yoki to maim or kill Uchiha Sasuke, which is not the case. I admit using yoki though, for accelerated self-healing and as a countermeasure to the cursed seal's second level." Even Danzo couldn't say anything there. Everyone in the chamber knew how powerful the first level of that damned seal was. The second one should be giving the user an even bigger boost.

"What about the third?" One of the civilian councilmen asked.

"We are shinobi, and we all know that any mission that is not within village walls may be the last one for us. I... well, my shadow clones, asked Shikamaru Nara, Aburame Shino, Rock Lee and Neji Hyuuga, whether they agree to go on the mission that was at least higher B-rank at that time. Thus they knew what dangers they would face, but still they went on the mission." Again, there was nothing one can do to turn the situation against Naruto, as the Hokage had written forms where three of the four – Neji still hasn't woken up – of Naruto's teammates said that they went on the mission willingly.

"And what about Uchiha-sama? He suffered some serious wounds as the result of the rescue mission. We know that you were the one, who fought the final fight that freed Uchiha-sama from Orochimaru's clutches." Another civilian member of the council said.

"According to the investigation in the Uchiha compound, Sasuke Uchiha left the village willingly as: there were no signs of a fight in the compound; all his essentials were removed. If he was kidnapped, it's not likely that an enemy shinobi would waste his time packing Sasuke's things. Seeing that, I authorized the use of force if necessary to bring Sasuke Uchiha back. I personally checked Sasuke, and his wounds were not threatening even to his shinobi career, all the more so his life."

"But how could Uchiha Sasuke be willing to leave the village?" The man continued. "Uchiha's were the founders of the village? How could the last of them want to leave?"

"Uchiha Sasuke is obsessed with killing his older brother, S-rank missing-nin Uchiha Itachi. If I were to say, Sasuke would gladly sell his soul to anyone who will promise him power to complete this _task_. So with Orochimaru's cursed seal acting as a reinforcement of the man's promise of power..." Naruto said.

"What are you talking about, de..." Sharp glares from Tsunade made the man shut up and swallow nervously before trying to say the same with more respect to the jinchuuriki. "What are you talking about, boy?"

"Actually, medical records even from ninja academy state that Uchiha Sasuke is obsessed with killing his brother." Tsunade pointed out. "But at that time, you decided to allow him to join the ranks, instead of sending him to the psychologists, am I right?" Before this could continue, an ANBU appeared in the chamber via shunshin.

"Hokage-sama! There is an emergency at the village gates. Both guards were killed with a lightning jutsu, most likely the chidori." The turtle-masked man said. "Also, one of the patrols at the twenty mile line went missing." The Hokage nodded darkly. Just about a minute later another ANBU shunshin'ed into the chamber.

"Tsunade-sama, Sasuke Uchiha is missing from the hospital. We found a nurse's burnt corpse in his room." Tsunade nodded again and dismissed both ANBU.

"Now, do you need any more proof that Sasuke Uchiha betrayed the Hidden Leaf?" No one dared to say a word against this fact. "So, then... As the Fifth Hokage of the Konohagakure no Sato, I, Senju Tsunade, clear Uzumaki Naruto of all charges. I also mark Uchiha Sasuke as B-rank missing-nin with an order to capture and bring him back to the village per sixty five thousand ryo. This meeting is adjourned."

/ ***** **\

It was late evening when Danzo finally reached his office in the hidden base of his Ne ANBU. Taking his place behind his desk, the old man immediately summoned his head scientist. It was a ratty man with large glasses who was approaching his eighties.

"Tokaru. Wake up project UW-03." Danzo ordered as soon as the man entered the office of the Ne ANBU leader. The man shivered under his superior's gaze.

"I'm very sorry, Danzo-sama, but the subject isn't complete yet. We are still unable to stabilize the DNA. If we wake it up, it won't last more than a couple of days without stabilizer injections." Danzo wasn't pleased with this, but he needed the subject of the project to join the Konoha shinobi forces now.

"Then take the DNA sample and continue working with it. Wake the project up and give it the stabilizer." The scientist sighed tiredly and nodded.

"Of course, Danzo-sama."

Several floors below Danzo's office, in the dark lab chamber, with only the light from the various machines fighting against the darkness, green liquid was poured out of a big metallic cylinder. Then the reanimation program was started, so that by the time Danzo reaches this chamber, the subject of the Ultimate Warrior project will be ready to face its commander.

* * *

"Master..." It said, when the leader of the Ne ANBU finally arrived there, opening its blood red eyes.

"UW-03, from now on you will answer to the codename 'Tsuki'." Danzo said, approaching it.

"Of course, Danzo-sama. What will my mission be?" Red eyes followed every movement of their owner's master.

"You will temporary join a genin team under jounin Kakashi and see to Sasuke Uchiha being returned to the Hidden Leaf village. You can use any means necessary to complete this objective. When this is done, you will assassinate Uzumaki Naruto." The red-eyed figure nodded respectfully.

"As you wish, Danzo-sama."

* * *

This is all, folks. **Read** and **Review**!


	17. Silly Moon

Hello, everyone! I'm here with a new chapter for the "_**Konoha's young sage**_" story! Enjoy!

*** Review Response**:  
**snowclyde**, check your PM: your answer's there.  
**Sky of Darkness 64**, same goes to you. Check PM.  
**doragonculaw**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **DarkFox2**, **shadowgouf**, **Thousand Tailed Holy FlashFang**, **RasenShuriken92**, **fanficreader71**, **eclipseX**, **bleacher**, thank you!  
**bilingualkyuubi**, while you're essentially right, i wouldn't put it like that, after all Naruto and Kyuubi have mutual affection (the blond, though, still sees her more as a kinky older sister), so... you get my point?  
**Elemental Dragon Swordman**, maybe, because those eyes should remind you of someone... Actually, that was MY attempt of sharingan + byakugan.  
**Reishin Amara**, was seduction an option only for the case when Tsuki is she? =) Anyway, Naruto will seduce her with a freedom of emotions - once born as a human, you stay human till the end, right?  
**Naginator**, Naruto will permanently join Yugito in ch.17 (if you count this one as 14th). Fuu will join them several chapters after that and Deidara will be the finall addition to the group. The four legendary ninja, eh?  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, read and see.  
**Trooper0007**, if I'm not mistaken, I've answered you through PM too.  
**raw666**, Danzou isn't stupid, and understands, that Naruto already works with and is close to the Kyuubi. Brainwashing someone like that is entirely too troublesome - what he wants instead is uncovered in this chapter. Backup plan will be told in the next chapter.

*** Jutsu List**:  
**Shunshin** - (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu  
**Kage bunshin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to the user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering  
**Katon: karyūdan** -(unknown rank) Fire style: fire dragon missile – User breathes a stream of fire from the mouth  
**Doton: keisei** - (B-rank) Earth style: formation - jutsu of my own creation. Allows user to modify earth in a small area at his will. User need to stand on the ground to do this jutsu.  
**Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.  
**Katon: goukakyuu** - (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales fireball from his mouth.  
**Rasengan** - (A-rank) Spiraling sphere - Jutsu created by Yondaime Hokage. In itself it is a ball of compressed, quickly swirling in all directions at one, chakra. When done right, this jutsu can do a lot of tearing damage to anything it touches.  
**Doton: kotei dai-haka** - (unknown rank) earth style: great (big) emperor's tomb – traps the target(s) within a 12 jawed earthen mouth, then pulls the target(s) under the ground and crushes the target(s)

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

**_

* * *

_**Special thanks to _**CloudBloodBane **_for beta-reading this chapter!

* * *

**Konoha's young sage**  
**chapter 14: Silly Moon**

A pair of red eyes observed two ninjas from a tree a block away from them, trying to compare what their files she was shown said about them with what they were in reality. The pink-haired girl who was standing on the bridge across a small channel, leaning on the railing was identified as genin Haruno Sakura. The girl, from the information the owner of the red eyes was given, was pretty much useless on the battlefield, and the lack of awareness she was displaying right now did nothing to disprove that info... The red-eyed observer saw Sakura send a glare at the second shinobi.

'_The data said that there were no conflicts between Haruno-san and Uzumaki-san._' Speaking of Uzumaki Naruto, the jinchuuriki of the fearsome Kyuubi no Yoko, the owner of the red eyes watched him meditate, sitting in the lotus position on a small patch of grass next to one the bridge's ends. From the information given, the boy was closer to jounin level of strength and was reported to be some kind of a sensor – the owner of the red eyes was sure that he knew that he was being spied upon. Coupled with his psychological portrait, he seemed to be a much better teammate than the Haruno girl. The red-eyed observer sighed. Unfortunately, Uzumaki Naruto was the second part of the mission given to the observer. The part which the owner of the red eyes didn't like or want to do... It was wrong as the observer was forbidden to have any kind of emotions... Taking a deep breath, the observer closed her eyes and extended her senses, trying to locate Hatake Kakashi, the jounin-sensei of team seven. By some miracle, the man in question was almost there... '_Time to start the first part of my mission._'

* * *

Sakura was standing on the bridge, glaring at Naruto, who was meditating not far from said bridge, from time to time, and thinking about Sasuke otherwise. Like many in Konoha, the pink-haired kunoichi was happy when the mission to bring Sasuke from the clutches of Orochimaru ended in a success and a bit angry at Naruto for harming the last 'loyal' Uchiha. But when Sasuke ran from the village – again – Sakura, in her distress, thought that it was Naruto's fault, hence those glares she shot at him... Oh, their ever-late sensei wasn't helping her mood in the slightest either. She heard Naruto standing up and dusting himself off, meaning that Kakashi will be there shortly.

"Yo!" The silver-haired jounin said as he appeared in a swirl of wind and leaves, crouching on the opposite railing from her.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura yelled, loud enough for everyone within a couple of blocks to hear her. The jounin wasn't fazed at all.

"Sorry, an old lady needed help with..." He gave one of his very many excuses, not that anyone listened to them by now. "Anyway. I have some news for you. First, from what Jiraiya's spy found out, Orochimaru was forced to switch bodies before Sasuke arrived, so Sasuke is mostly safe for about three years." This made Sakura a little happier – they still could save Sasuke! "And second, today we will have another ninja join our team. She'll be there shortly." Just as those words left his mouth, there was another swirl of wind and leaves.

"Good morning." said a quiet, collected and emotionless feminine voice as the aftereffects of the shunshin died down. Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto all looked at the owner of the voice. She was a rather petite beautiful albino girl. She had red eyes, pale skin and waist-long snow-white hair, all of which, bar a lock on the right side of her face, were made into a braid that was held together by a bright-red ribbon. The girl had the braid jibed over her shoulder to be in front of her chest for some reason. She was wearing an ANBU-style dark-blue jacket, pants of the same color, rather open sandals with small heels – much like those Tsunade's apprentice Shizune had – and black fingerless gloves with metallic plates on the backs of her hands. She had no kunai holsters, but there was a big pouch on her left hip. Finally, she had her hitae-ate tied just above her right knee.  
"Naruto, Sakura, meet Tsuki-san. She will be your teammate from now on." Kakashi paused for a moment "Tsuki-san, this is Uzumaki Naruto," He gestured towards the blond shinobi "and Haruno Sakura." Now he indicated to the pink-haired girl. Tsuki nodded. "Now, let's go to our training ground so we can get to know each other a bit better." Kakashi said, before heading towards training ground seven, three other ninjas following him closely.

* * *

When the four shinobi arrived there, Kakashi had them all seated on the grass in one of the smaller shadowy clearings.

"Naruto, Sakura, I know that we've done this before, but for the sake of Tsuki-san, we'll tell our likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams again. I'll go first." The jounin paused for a moment. "I'm Hatake Kakashi, as you all already know. I like some things and dislike other. I still haven't really thought about my dream for the future... And I have lots of hobbies." Both the Naruto and the Sakura wanted to face-palm at their sensei's 'introduction'. "OK... Naruto, why don't you go next?" The blond shinobi nodded.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like nature and its serenity, my senseis, friends and precious people..." 'And I love a certain vixen.' He added in his mind, making that certain vixen blush a bit. "I also like training and tasty foods. I don't like traitors, rapists and those who judge book by its cover. My dream for the future... I don't know... but I want peace for as many people as it is possible."

'_Naruto didn't change much..._' Kakashi thought. "Now it's your turn, Sakura." The pink-haired kunoichi nodded.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. My likes are a certain boy... I dislike those who hurt him." She sent a glare at Naruto. "I don't like people who aren't punctual either. My hobbies... I dunno... hanging out with my friends... My dream for the future is to marry the one I love and have a big family with him." She said, blushing somewhat.

'_Still the fangirl, I'll need to do something about that_.' Kakashi thought. "Now Tsuki-san, it's your turn." The red-eyed girl looked at her three new teammates, before she started speaking:

"I'm Tsuki. I have no likes or dislikes. I do not have any hobbies and my purpose is to serve Konoha." Naruto, who had heard some things about Danzou's machinations behind the Sandaime's back, nodded to himself, making a mental note to find more about the white-haired girl. Meanwhile Sakura sweat dropped from Tsuki's introduction.

'_She's Ne ANBU and, despite her looks, she's very strong. I'll need to be careful with her._' Kakashi thought. "Now, that we're done with introductions, the test for you three is in order." The silver-haired jounin produced an alarm-clock from his pouch and placed it on a flat stone. Then the tied two bells to his belt. "Your task will be to take these two bells from me before the time's up, which is one in the afternoon. You can use any means necessary." He made a small pause. "You can start... now!" And then he disappeared from the clearing via shunshin.

"Tsuki-san, we –Sakura and I – have already had this test before its true purpose is to test our teamwork." The white-haired girl nodded.

"Thank you, Uzumaki-san." She made a small pause. "If that is the case, we need to build a strategy before engaging Kakashi-taicho." Tsuki said.

"Please, call me Naruto." Naruto said before getting back to the topic. "As you're new for the team, Tsuki-san, your skills are unknown to us, as our skills are unknown to you. To build an effective strategy we need to know what each member of our team can do." The white-haired girl nodded.

"You are correct, Uzu- Naruto-san." She said. "I'm proficient in ninjutsu and taijutsu. My genjutsu skills are above average chuunin level. My speed is at jounin level as is my chakra control and my chakra reserves are ...large." Naruto nodded.

"You are very strong, Tsuki-san. Anyway I'm also proficient in ninjutsu and taijutsu. My genjutsu skills are limited to detecting and dispelling illusions. I'm an adept at fuinjutsu art and can create high-level traps with seals. I have huge chakra reserves and so my control over it isn't the best. My strength and speed are at high chuunin level. I can also temporary increase my chakra reserves and physical strength." Naruto said while thinking to himself. '_You aren't telling us everything, Tsuki. When you were spying on us, I checked you through my sage mode. Your chakra reserves are even bigger than mine are and you have more than normal amount of chakra around your eyes. It feels like you have something akin to the byakugan._' Sakura blushed, feeling herself weak and useless around her teammates, not that she liked either of them... But, taking a deep breath, she told them her abilities.

"Well... I have exceptional chakra control, but my reserves are only at average genin level. I can cast several genjutsus, and I know two low-level suiton jutsus. I can also use simple medical jutsu..." By the end of her short speech she blushed even more... Naruto looked at Tsuki to see if she had come with any strategy for them. And as she had none to share, he told his.

"With my clones, I can create a trap field. Then all we will have to do is to distract Kakashi-sensei first and then make him go there." Tsuki nodded. This seemed to be a good idea. Sakura nodded simply because there were no other plans. "Well, I think that our strategy for getting Kakashi-sensei to the trap field should be like this..." And the blond shinobi told his teammates the rest of his plan.

* * *

They found Kakashi in one of the clearings on the other side of the training ground fifteen minutes later. The man was reading his favorite orange book while casually leaning against the tree. Naruto, who took the role of attack coordinator upon himself, gave a signal for Sakura and Tsuki to spread around the clearing, as he himself dashed towards the jounin. Kakashi closed the book and prepared to parry the blond's attack, but Naruto in the last moment jumped back and doing a back flip, brought his hands into a cross-shaped handseal.

"**Kage bunshin!**" About seventy clones popped into the existence. Half of them charged at the jounin, fixing his attention on them, while the other half went to the nearby clearing to prepare the trap field. Fighting the shadow clones, Kakashi showed that he wasn't jounin and ex-ANBU captain for nothing as he destroyed them all in less than three minutes. Only to find out that now he had the Kyuubi jinchuuriki in front of him with Tsuki on the left side and Sakura on the right.

"So you three are here... Looks like I'll have to uncover this." Kakashi's left hand moved up and lifted his hitae-ate, revealing his sharingan eye. He immediately noticed the amount of chakra Tsuki had and made another mental note to be careful around this girl. With the speed he had seen only from elite jounins, the white-haired girl flashed through handseals.

"**Katon: karyuudan!**" She exhaled a long stream of white-hot fire, making Kakashi use kawarimi to escape the flames. Moments later he found his mind attacked with a powerful genjutsu – his sharingan could barely see through it. The illusion made it seem that the time was changing its speed and even 'direction' every other second. It took him quite a pulse of chakra to dispel the illusion, and when he did it, he found himself in a taijutsu match against both Naruto and Tsuki. Together the two genin were pushing him back to the center of the clearing... Suddenly Naruto stopped for a moment, before giving a handsign to his teammates.

"**Doton: keisei!**" The white-haired kunoichi jumped away from the growing stone wall, but Kakashi, trying to see what they planned, allowed himself to be surrounded by these walls. He found himself in a corridor of about five meters wide... He saw Tsuki appear with Naruto at one end of this corridor, and they started flashing through handseals.

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**"

"**Katon: goukakyuu!**" The result was an incredibly powerful fireball. Not to be burnt to ashes, Kakashi jumped out of the corridor – thankfully, it had no ceiling – and ran in the direction Sakura was protecting, running past the girl with her barely able to even see him... Soon he found himself in a smaller clearing with a single tree near the center. Only when he caught the blue flash of activating seals with his sharingan, Kakashi understood that he was caught... Blue lines of chakra ruled the clearing, while creating a dome over it. The jounin tried to shunshin away but found that the jutsu didn't work... Then the amplified shock seals activated, sending powerful surges of electricity through the air. The jounin evaded as much as he could, but in the end, one of the 'lightnings' hit him, paralyzing him and sending jolts of pain through his body... A minute later the seals ran out of chakra, leaving the defeated jounin lying in the clearing... The new team seven walked into the clearing and collected the bells from Kakashi's belt.

"Good work, team." Kakashi said when the effects of the shock seals died down. "Your teamwork was very good and you actually managed to get the bells from me." He paused for a moment. "Meet me tomorrow at the bridge at seven in the morning. Dismissed." Tsuki shunshin'ed away. Kakashi, not forgetting to pick up the alarm-clock, followed suit moments later. Naruto walked in one direction, while Sakura in other, not forgetting to send a glare at the blond's back, though...

~/ ******* \~

For a week Kakashi trained his team, mostly in teamwork as the makeup of the team, without them taking any missions, but as Tsuki seemed to be working fine with both Naruto and Sakura, he decided that it was time for his team to take a mission.

"Team seven is requesting a mission, Hokage-sama." The jounin said as he and his team entered Tsunade's office. Thinking again, Kakashi added. "Upper C or lower B-rank if possible." The Godaime Hokage nodded and looked through scrolls with available missions.

"You are lucky, Kakashi-san, yesterday we got a mission from a merchant's guild to escort their caravan to the Bird country. Possibility of an attack is low as the caravan will go through Fire, River and Wind countries. The caravan departs tomorrow at seven in the morning. Estimated length of the mission is one month to five weeks. I wanted to give this mission to your team anyway." She said, giving the scroll with the mission to Kakashi. The jounin read more of the mission details and nodded to himself.

"Team seven accepts the mission." He said to the Hokage.

"Then you are dismissed." Tsunade replied, reaching for another pile of documents she needed to work through. After they exited Hokage's office, Kakashi looked at Naruto, Sakura and Tsuki.

"You will have a day off today. Meet me at the west gates at six thirty. Dismissed." And then he shunshin'ed away, leaving his team to their own devices...

~/ ***** **\~

Next morning Naruto arrived at the gates fifteen minutes past six. The caravan they will be guarding for the next month was readying for the departure on the square in front of the gates. Even without his sage sensor abilities the blond ninja could tell that Tsuki was already there – she wasn't masking her chakra signature and her gigantic reserves were like a beacon to anyone who could sense energies. He quickly found the white-haired girl sitting atop the gates and watching the rising sun... Knowing that he had some time before Kakashi or Sakura arrive, Naruto found himself a spot on the small patch of the grass next to the guard's booth and sat there, meditating... Fifteen minutes later, he felt his jounin-sensei and his third teammate approach the square, so he stood up and walked towards them.

"Yo!" The silver-haired jounin said as he saw Naruto and Sakura. That very same moment out of the corner of his eye Naruto saw Tsuki stand up and use shunshin. Moments later she gracefully appeared next to Kakashi, stepping out of the swirl of wind and leaves. "Now that we're all here, let's find the client." It didn't take them a lot of time, five minutes, maybe, to find a large man with big mustaches, who was the captain of the caravan. After Kakashi spoke with him, the masked jounin made a last minute equipment check for his team, and the mission started...

* * *

As per Kakashi's orders, Sakura and Tsuki were patrolling along the left side of the caravan, starting from different ends, while Naruto and the jounin himself were doing the same on the right. For the first several hours the Kyuubi jinchuuriki could hear Sakura try asking Tsuki one girlish question or other, but the white-haired kunoichi never answered her even once. Then Sakura gave up and started brooding about Sasuke, so the rest of the morning hike was spent in silence... At about one in the afternoon, the caravan stopped for lunch... Naruto, having finished first, returned to his duty, and started walking around the camp. When he was on the second 'lap', he saw Tsuki's shadow. What interested him, though, was the fact she had a syringe in her hand and was making an injection to herself. As this was the second time he caught her doing so, he was interested.

'_Interesting..._' Reaching for his sage mode for heightened senses, he felt that her chakra was flowing more chaotically, fluctuating instead of projecting the near-constant 'glow' that it should normally be. But as Tsuki finished the injection, the flow of her chakra calmed down, returning to how it should be. '_Very interesting... Tsuki is ill, and seriously, but is still on active duty. Maybe her boss deemed her irreplaceable or something? Still, sending someone this dependent on medicament into the field..._' Normally, Naruto would have reported this to Kakashi, but for some odd reason he felt that the white-haired kunoichi should have her problems still be her own... And if she was deemed good enough to stay on active duty even with this ...problem, than who he was to question it.

~/ ***** **\~

The caravan had its first big stop at Tanzaku Gai four days after they departed from Konoha, where it spent two days, trading goods with local merchants. After that, they resumed on their way to the west, soon crossing the border of River country. Unlike the forested southern regions on River country, northern, where the caravan was traveling were more swamps with rare copses of osier bed or the like, but the road was good and they didn't need to slow down at all... On the sixth day of traveling through these lands, now only a couple of days away from wind country, the caravan reached a big town there, again making a stop to trade.

The captain of the caravan was generous enough to give his hired shinobi a free day, so team seven, minus Tsuki, who had no interest in this, disappeared into the market... Kakashi, of course, added a few adult books written by Jiraiya the sannin to his bookshelf, Sakura found herself a couple of pretty dresses – for whom only she knew – and Naruto...

"Is that a scroll on advanced chakra manipulation?" The blond shinobi asked the merchant. While seeing some ninja-related stuff that was mostly common knowledge among shinobi, on sale wasn't really unusual, it wasn't usual either.

"Yes." The large man behind the counter answered. "I would have asked you to show your hitae-ate to buy it, but I already can see yours, so, are you interested in the scroll? It's only three thousand ryo." Naruto thought about this: the scroll looked ancient and might contain some uncommon chakra control exercises, which might help him finish the rasengan – up to now the power of his recreated jutsu was enough only to tear through maybe a plank of hard wood, far from what Yondaime's or Jiraiya's could do – and the price of the scroll surprisingly seemed to be quite fair, considering its age.

"OK." After buying the scroll, Naruto sealed it away to read at a further date, and continued walking through the market, looking for something to pick his interest, but could find nothing...

**~/ *** \~**

The caravan was on the move again, now only about a day away from Wind country. The scenery around changed from the swamps to much more welcoming forests and fields. It was about eleven in the morning, when Naruto, scanning the territory around the caravan with his sage mode, sensed a group of six people with civilian-level chakra reserves hiding in the forest, which the caravan would enter soon. As these men were doing nothing but waiting, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki assumed that they were bandits waiting for someone or something they could attack.

"Kakashi-sensei, we might have a group of thugs in the forest. They are six in number and have no ninja-trained members among them." The jounin nodded and passed the information to Sakura and Tsuki. As the bandits were so few in number, they will either let the caravan pass – even Sakura could hold her ground against them. Kakashi alone would kill them all before they could even blink – or will use incursion tactics, trying to wound or kill one of the ninja guard at a time, before hiding back into the forest; and the first seemed to be more possible... Still, just before they entered the forest, Naruto entered his sage mode, just in case. With it, he could feel Tsuki concentrate more chakra around her eyes, making a mental note to try to find something about that later... Unfortunately, the bandits were either stupid or needed money to the point that they became suicidal, as they attacked, concentrating their first strike on Naruto, who was suddenly very thankful that he currently was a sage, as arrows and throwing knives did nothing more that scratch him. The thugs froze, seeing their attack fail so miserably.

"Naruto-san, jump back." Said Tsuki, who was now standing a top of the leading cart said, already going through handseals. The moment Naruto did as she asked, she performed the jutsu: "**Doton: kotei dai-haka!**" The earth rose around the bandits, forming large twelve-jawed mouth around them. Only one of the thugs was fast enough to get out of the 'mouth' before the jaws closed. The stone 'head' then disappeared under the ground, crushing the bandits in it, though some blood was visible on the ground. Naruto noticed, through his sage mode, that Tsuki froze for a moment when the jutsu finished its work, so he took the last bandit himself, quickly dealing with him with a 'rasengan' to his chest. Done with the last bandit, the blond shinobi turned to Tsuki, catching a glimpse of three black rings around her pupils, before her eyes were back to normal. Being sure that she was fine, Naruto returned to guarding the caravan, which continued moving.

'_The way she froze after she killed those bandits... It looked like it was her first kill... Strange, I would have thought that someone of her level had killed before. What a mystery you are, Tsuki, and those eyes..._' Naruto thought to himself as he was trying to uncover the mystery of his white-haired teammate. About ten minutes later he saw Tsuki, and it looked like she was trying to bottle her emotions from what happened earlier up. Knowing that it wasn't the best solution of the problem, he approached her. "Tsuki-san, was that your first kill?" She fixed her red eyes on him and nodded hesitantly several seconds later. She was hoping that he wouldn't ask her how she was this strong and never killed before – she had a story for that prepared, but she didn't want to lie. Thankfully for her, Naruto seemed not interested in this. For now. "Then, it's better to let your emotions free, now that the danger has passed. Bottling them up will do you nothing good." She continued looking at him.

"Emotions are weaknesses." The white-haired girl stated. Naruto sighed – she truly was one of those Danzou's marionettes the Sandaime was often talking about, those who were told that shinobi should have no emotions at all.

"While during the battle uncontrolled emotions are, without question, a weakness, outside the battlefield, human needs emotions, that is what my sensei told me many times." She was still looking at him blankly, so the blond shinobi tried a different approach. "Tsuki-san, do you know the 'survival of the fittest' law?" The white-haired girl nodded.

"Yes."

"Then tell me, if the law is true – and it is – why do we, humans, and even animals, still have emotions?" There was a couple of seconds during which nothing happened. Then Tsuki's eyes widened, signifying that his question hit the spot. Another couple of seconds later she closed her eyes and broke into sobs. Feeling that he needed to calm the girl down, Naruto wrapped his arms around her petite frame, hugging her close to his body, rocking her lightly and whispering soothing words into her ear, as Kyuubi was 'instructing' him to do from the depths of his mind. Tsuki, with her head against his chest, slowly moved her hands around his neck, as she continued sobbing.

"NARUTO! What have you done to the poor girl!" Sakura screeched. Oh, yes, dealing with Tsuki, Naruto completely forgot about Kakashi-sensei and his pink-haired teammate... Sakura was about to bash him on his head, but Kakashi caught her hand.

"Sakura, never jump to conclusions, haven't I taught you that?" Then Kakashi looked at Naruto. "What happened here?"

"Just a bad case of bottled up emotions." Naruto replied, actually, telling the truth. Kakashi nodded.

"Then find an empty cart and..." Then he saw how the white-haired girl was holding on to Naruto. "On second thought, you should stay with her till she calms down." Naruto nodded and started walking Tsuki towards the first empty cart he saw.

"Kakashi-sensei? Do you really... really want to leave them alone! What if... what if he rapes her?" Naruto stopped, suddenly rooted to the ground. Kakashi wasn't happy with Sakura either... Trying to control his emotions the best he could – the last thing Tsuki needed right now was him getting angry and entering a shouting match with the pink-haired girl – Naruto turned his head to look at her.

"So, this is what you think of me, Sakura-chan?" He asked in the coldest voice he could muster. "You think that I will stoop so low as to try to force myself on anyone, especially an emotionally distressed girl?" Having nothing more to say to her right now, Naruto led the still sobbing Tsuki to the cart, while Kakashi started reprimanding Sakura. Among their shouting, Naruto heard the pink-haired girl say that he forced Sasuke to flee the village with his envy of the last Uchiha being so-o-o-o cool... This had the silver-haired jounin start another round of reprimanding Sakura about her attitude towards her teammates...

* * *

Half an hour later the blond shinobi rejoined Kakashi and a sulking Sakura on guarding the caravan.

"How's she?" Kakashi asked as soon as he saw Naruto.

"Cried herself to sleep." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki answered. "She needed to do quite a discharge of emotions, but once she wakes up, she should be fine." The masked ninja nodded.

"...Thank you, Naruto." There was a small pause. "While you were ...occupied, I had a talk with Sakura." By the man's tone, Naruto could say that he too was dissatisfied with her behavior. "She may be cold towards you, but she knows what will happen, should she attack you, physically or verbally."

* * *

When Tsuki woke up, she felt… good, actually, better than she could ever remember being. While she had never killed before today, she had quite an amount of bottled up emotions, most coming from her training when she came close to her body's limit. Filing her current state as more proof of emotions not being an absolute evil in her mind, she left the cart and she too rejoined guarding the caravan, this time having Naruto on her side and Kakashi with Sakura on the other.

"How are you, Tsuki-... chan?" The blond shinobi asked. when he got close to the white-haired girl. She paused for a moment, before answering.

"I'm... good. Thank you Naruto." And she added her first smile. It looked a bit awkward, especially since Naruto was so used to her emotionless face, but it made him happy. He smiled back.

"I'm glad, Tsuki-chan." And they continued their guarding duty...

~/ ***** **\~

The caravan stopped for the night near a big lake not far from the border between Wind and Bird countries. It was fascinating, how different this place was from the endless deserts Wind country was usually associated... Tsuki found herself a spot on large rock standing in the water a dozen meters from the bank. As she was watching the Sun move down behind the trees on the other side of the lake, her mind wandered to the events of the last week and a half.

Ever since Naruto showed her that emotions weren't bad – at least outside the battlefield – she found herself getting closer to the blond: he was the one who calmed her down every time she needed it, having her reacquired emotions turn her into a sobbing mess. That was the only downside of emotions she could see, but as she got used to them that stopped happening. Speaking of Naruto, she liked him and didn't see anything wrong with getting closer to him from a personal point of view: she may have being created as an ultimate warrior, but she was still a human and now, having her emotions, she found out, that she absolutely didn't want to complete the second part of her mission: Being a laboratory creation she didn't like taking lives at all, knowing how hard it is to create one, and with her attachment to the blond jinchuuriki.

"What a nice spot you've found, Tsuki-chan." said a voice next to her. Taking her red eyes off the sunset, she saw Naruto sit onto the rock next to her. "Nature is beautiful." He said quietly.

"Indeed." The red-eyed girl replied quietly. She stole another glance at him. She had suspicions that he knew at least about what she was. Yet, he was so kind to her, why did she need to harm him? Her orders were certain: she was to disrupt his seal, take away the Kyuubi, killing him in process, and bring the bijuu to Danzou-sama in the temporary seal so that it would be resealed into the new container. Her heart was telling her that it was all wrong, and she shouldn't harm Naruto. As she was choosing where her loyalties lie, in her master or in her heart, tears appeared in her eyes.

"Something happened, Tsuki-chan?" Naruto asked, noticing her tears. She looked at him again, and broke into sobbing. Naruto wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close to himself. "Everything's alright, Tsuki-chan, don't cry."

After several minutes of crying into his shoulder, she looked up, her red eyes filled with tears. Unconsciously she activated her doujutsu, making three black rings appear around her pupils.

"C-Can I... ask you something, Naruto?" She whispered.

* * *

Naruto didn't know what to think. He was pondering on the request Tsuki made, and, more, he was pondering on what she told him about herself: She was created, using the genetics of several elite shinobi: Uchiha Itachi, Hiashi Hyuuga, Akimichi Chouza, and... and his mother, Kushina Uzumaki. Tsuki was his cousin... Finally, he was trying to understand why she started crying this time. He had a feeling that it had something to do with both him and her, but with the information he had, he couldn't put a finger on what it was. Tsuki was bursting into tears, but not telling him... Even if the worst scenario he came up with was the truth, Tsuki was a nice girl, so, he decided, as long as she doesn't make a move against him, he would treat her like he did before... Maybe, he was sometimes too kind for his own good...

~/ ***** **\~

Without any more incidents the caravan reached the destination. Tsuki still wouldn't tell Naruto about her mission and only adopted a sad look in her eyes every time he was close to her... Naruto still treated her kind, even lovingly, making it only worse for her, actually. It would continue like that, she may very well betray her master and chose to follow her heart... Feeling general uneasiness among his students, Kakashi collected the money for the mission from the captain of the caravan and the next morning team seven was on their way back to Konoha, hoping that the couple of day off after the mission will help them...

~/ ***** **\~

"The mission was completed successful, Tsunade-sama." Kakashi said, giving Tsunade a scroll with a written report. "The caravan was attacked by a group of six bandits once, but they were dealt with without much problem. There also was a small tension between team members, but that also was taken care of." Tsunade nodded. "I would like to request three days off for my team."

"Unfortunately, I will have to deny that." Tsunade said. "While you were on a mission, I got a word from Jiraiya. Orochimaru will move Sasuke to another of his lairs in six days. Your team and an ANBU cell were selected to ambush them and try to retrieve the Uchiha..."

"No..." Tsuki breathed out, her eyes widening slightly. Thankfully, no one noticed that, as she took control over her emotions moment later. She didn't want it to happen. She didn't want the second part of her mission to come so soon... 'Six days... Only six days to find a way out...'

"...You will move out tomorrow at six thirty in the morning from the northern gates." Tsunade continued, as she was looking through the scroll in her hands. "So I advise you all to rest well tonight... Kakashi-san, here are the details for the mission." She said, giving the silver-haired jounin the scroll she was reading moments before. "Dismissed."

* * *

That's all, folks! Leave me a **review**!

_**late AN**_: Next several chapters are going to be dark, but... I need it that way, as even if Naruto's trust into the village was betrayed twice up to now, the third will be far the worst. Beware!


	18. The last straw

Hello, everyone. Here's the newest chapter of the "_**Konoha's young sage**_" story! Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**nobother**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **doragonculaw**, **8675309**, **fanficreader71**, **RasenShuriken92**, **god of all**, thank you  
**call015**, actually, I haven't though of that. Not that it will matter: 1) Naruto dies if someone rips the Kyuubi from the seal. And dead don't have an ability to gather either physical or natural energy. 2) It won't happen anyway.  
**Cenright**, Danzou won't be killed before Tsuki dies... Poor Tsuki. As for Hokages, as far as I remember, only Yondaime took the hat from an alive predecessor (well, Nidaime lived for about an hour after he passed his hat to Sarutobi, but that doesn't count).  
**Reishin Amara**, crater in the Root base will be. Tsuki will live only in AU-oneshot I'm writing. Danzou... will live for now.  
**Doragon Kishi**, there's a cliffhanger this time ^_^  
**GoldenGod Rah**, in 'canon' KYS Tsuki dies, but there will be an AU one-shot where I will have her alive and with Naruto.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, Sakura won't use kunai. And not in the back... (yep!) And as I've said before (one line upwards), in 'canon' KYS Tsuki dies.  
**Skelo**, nice to see you again, man. Thanks!**  
Elemental Dragon Swordman**, she won't be given a chance. Kabuto knows what she truly deserves. (double yep!)**  
Timetravelviajutsu**, um... thank you.

Thanks **400 **reviews, by the way!

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Shōton: Hashō Kōryū** - (bloodline jutsu) Crystal style: Tearing Crystal Falling Dragon – the user creates a dragon from crystal in the surrounding area to attack the target with or to travel on.  
**Doton: tsuchiryuu** - (A-rank) Earth style: earth dragon) – the user molds a dragon from the ground then sends to attack the target(s).  
**Katon: keiryuu hitama** - (A-rank) Fire style: dragon lord flame bomb – User exhales a blue-white fireball at the target.  
**Katon: karyūdan** - (unknown rank) Fire style: fire dragon missile – User breathes a stream of fire from the mouth.  
**Fuuton: atsugaya** - (B-rank) Wind style: pressure damage - This jutsu creates devastating wind blast.  
**Rasengan **- (A-rank) Spiral sphere - rasengan is a tight ball of compressed fast-rotating chakra (or yoki) that does tremendous drilling damage.  
**Doton: Doryuudan** - (unknown rank. must be B or A) Earth style: earth dragon projectile - using chakra, user creates dragon head from mud. Dragon head will shoot mud balls at its target.  
**(Fuuton) Kaze no yaiba** - (A-rank) (Wind style) Sword of wind - cutting wind.  
**Shoton: shorin** - (bloodline jutsu) Crystal style: crystal forest – brings crystal 'spikes' up through the ground within the surrounding area with the intent to impale others within the 'forest'.  
**Doton: shinsai** – (unknown rank) Earth style: earthquake – causes an earthquake within a target radius.  
**Doton: kotei dai-haka** - (unknown rank) Earth style: great (big) emperor's tomb – traps the target(s) within a 12 jawed earthen mouth, then pulls the target(s) under the ground and crushes the target(s).  
**Kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**(Raiton) Chidori** - (A-rank) (Lightning style) Thousand birds - this is an assassination jutsu utilizing lightning element, using which one can cut almost through anything. Due to the high speed of attack, the jutsu emits a sound like a thousand birds chirping which gave the technique its name. Because of the great amount of chakra needed to utilize the technique, the technique can only be used so many times during the day. Downside of this jutsu is that while user is attacking, he has troubles with dodging enemy's counterattack because of his tunnel vision. So this jutsu is most effective to kill immobilized opponent.  
**kawarimi** - (E-rank) Change of body stance - substitutes user with nearby object  
**Katon: gouryuuka** - (B-rank) Fire style: great dragon fire - The ninja does needed handseals and then exhales powerful fireball shaped as a dragon head.  
**Doton: doryuheki** - (B-rank) Earth style: wall - This is a defensive ninjutsu technique utilizing the Earth Element. The ninja will do the necessary hand seals and then spew a line of mud onto the ground. The mud will then grow into a large mud wall to help defend against incoming attack.  
**Fuuton: Reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - strong gust of wind sent towards his target. When acting in conjunction with another thrown weapon, the wind can increase its power and deadliness.  
**Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.  
**Raiton: denryuu** - (B-rank) Lightning style: lightning dragon – user creates a dragon shaped lighting bolt that is then sent at the target.  
**Gogyou fuuin** - (A-rank) Five elements seal - This is a fuinjutsu technique. User forms an elemental seal on each of his fingers, one for each of the following five "elements": water, metal, earth, fire and wood. This seal disrupts chakra control of its target and makes jinchuuriki unable to communicate with his/her bijuu.  
**Shoton: santouryuu** - (bloodline jutsu) Crystal style: three-headed dragon – creates a crystal dragon with three heads to attack the target with.  
**Katon: housenka** - (C-rank) Fire style: Mythical Fire Phoenix - this fire jutsu creates series of small fireballs. The ninja can also hurl a projectile which is covered in these same flames.  
**Katon: hisen** - (A-rank) Fire style: fire river - A stream of fire that goes just above the ground, burning everything in its path.  
**Kuchiyose no jutsu** - (A-rank) Summoning - Time-space ninjutsu that summons object/animal (requires signed contract with that type of animals) to user's location  
**Shunshin** - (D-rank) Body flicker - 'teleportation' jutsu  
**Shiki fuuin** - (S-rank) Corpse spirit sealing method - summoning Shinigami, user can rip target's soul from the body and seal it away, either in himself, or any other object. If the soul is sealed within jutsu user, both user's and target's souls are eaten by Shinigami, while if the target's soul is sealed in other object, only user's soul is eaten.  
**(Raiton) Raikiri** - (S-rank) (Lightning style) Lightning edge - stronger version of chidori.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

**_

* * *

_**Special thanks to _**CloudBloodBane **_for beta-reading this chapter!

* * *

**Konoha's young sage**  
**chapter 15: The last straw**

As it was known from the spy in the Snake's lair, Orochimaru will move Sasuke to a different base only with his right hand man, Kabuto, and maybe one other high-level shinobi as an escort. So the plan for the ambush was like this: the ANBU cell will attack the snake sannin, while team seven will take care of the rest – take Sasuke and flee towards Konoha. Simple?.. Finally, the morning of the operation came... It turned out that the information was correct, only four people exited Orochimaru's base. The sannin himself, Sasuke, Kabuto and a blue-haired woman in a green battle kimono with white camellia on it – Guren of the crystal element. Like it was planned, the ANBU cell attacked the sannin, while team seven surrounded the rest.

"So... My useless team got a new member... Not like it will help them any..." Sneered Sasuke his sharingan blazing in his eyes, but moments later he had to swallow nervously as Tsuki activated her own doujutsu.

"Sasuke-san step back we will take care of this nuisance." Kabuto said as he and Guren stepped forward. As much as the Uchiha didn't want to admit it, he could only easily defeat or defeat at all – only Sakura out of the new team seven. "Now... Shall we start, sharingan no Kakashi." the traitorous med-nin said, activating his chakra scalpels.

"Sakura, stay back, this fight is not of your level." Kakashi ordered, uncovering his implanted sharingan and gripping a kunai in each hand. Then Guren made the first move.

"**Shoton: Hashō Kōryū!**" A pinkish dragon rose from the ground and tried to bite through Tsuki. The white-haired girl dodged the crystalline beast and slammed her hands onto the ground.

"**Doton: tsuchiryuu!**" A rock dragon, easily twice the size of Guren's rose to attack the shoton user., but its crystalline 'brother' wrapped around it, making it turn into crystals too. Tsuki seemed surprised, while Guren adopted a half-crazy smile, as she directed the dragons around to attack the white-haired kunoichi.

"Foolish girl, I can turn anything into crystals!" Guren bragged. Tsuki canceled her now useless doton jutsu and flashed through another set of handseals.

"Why don't you try to crystallize this:** Katon: keiryuu hitama!**" She exhaled a large bluish-white fireball, trying to cast a genjutsu onto Guren through her eyes at the same time. The crystal user shuffled the illusion off and morphed the dragons into a thick shield in front of herself. The fireball did a significant amount damage to it, but couldn't harm Guren at all...

* * *

A moment after Guren attacked Tsuki, Kabuto charged at Kakashi and Naruto, utilizing his superior speed and agility to at the very least occupy the two shinobi. Naruto, in his sage mode, was using kunai charged with wind chakra to keep the older boy away from himself, while the silver-haired jounin relied on his implanted eye to dodge all the attacks... After thirty seconds of this deadly dance, all three combatants had superficial wounds and torn clothes here and there, but it seemed they could continue like this for a long time... Then Naruto saw the white-haired kunoichi use a very powerful fire attack on her opponent, but still fail. Deciding that he would be more helpful to her than to Kakashi-sensei, he moved closer to Tsuki.

"Attack her with fire again!" He yelled to the white-haired girl. She nodded and flashed through handseals for another jutsu. Naruto was preparing to launch his own technique at the same time...

"**Katon: karyuudan!**"

"**Fuuton: atsugaya!**" The resulting attack almost destroyed Guren's reformed crystalline shield. But still, the shoton user was bragging.

"See... Your fire can do nothing to me!" Through the dying flames she couldn't see Naruto approaching her with a tight ball of chakra in his hand.

"Maybe your crystals can withstand fire, but how about this? **Rasengan!**" In his sage mode, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki managed to pull full-powered rasengan and broke the shield Guren had in front of her. "Tsuki-chan!" He shouted, immediately jumping back.

"**Doton: doryuudan!**" The white-haired kunoichi had her hands again on the ground as large dragon head rose in front of her and shot several large rocks at Guren. Without her shield there, the shoton user had to dodge them, and a couple of '**kaze no yaiba**' Naruto sent at her.

"Damn you!" She swore, dodging another wind jutsu courtesy of the blond sage. "**Shoton: shorin!**" Thousands of crystalline spears sprang from the ground, trying to impale the woman's opponents, but they both got away unscathed. Naruto flashed through handseals and slammed his hands onto the ground.

"**Doton: shinsai!**" The crystalline spears broke and even Guren had trouble not falling on her ass as the earth shook. Seeing this as her chance, Tsuki did her next attack.

"**Doton: kotei dai-haka!**" The twelve-jawed mouth rose around the shoton user, trying to 'swallow' her, but the jaws couldn't close as the woman erected a crystalline shield around herself.

"**Kage bunshin!**" Naruto made a single shadow clone. It immediately ran towards where Tsuki's jutsu was struggling against Guren's shield and jumped into the air, forming a rasengan in its hand. The already strained shield couldn't withstand such powerfful a attack and broke. That very same moment the jaws closed around Guren and dragged her underground.

"Go capture the Uchiha." Tsuki said. "I will help Kakashi-taicho." Naruto nodded. After all, taking Sasuke back to Konoha was their objective. Not to mention while Kakashi was dodging Kabuto's attacks well up to now, the silver-haired jounin was getting tired from the prolonged usage of his sharingan. So the Kyuubi jinchuuriki ran towards the raven-haired teen, preparing to fight him. Tsuki was about to join her taicho in the fight against Kabuto, but the earth behind her back exploded upwards, and a wounded and more than a bit angry Guren appeared there.

"You will be fighting me, girl." She hissed. Sighing, Tsuki prepared to fight with the shoton user again.

* * *

"Do you really think I will willingly return to that shithole yofu call 'the Great Hidden Leaf village'?" Sasuke asked with a sneer. Naruto wasn't fazed by that.

"As I thought, you wanted a rematch for your last defeat at my hands." Naruto said. The Uchiha boy glared at him with his sharingan.

"Even if you somehow manage to bring me back, I will just run away again. So be a good dobe and let me kill you. Maybe you will awaken my mangekyo?" This time it was Naruto's turn to glare, but Sasuke seemed to not be phased by the blond's toad-like eyes. The Uchiha flashed through a short sequence of handseals. "**Chidori!**" Lightning crackled into existence in his left hand. Then Sasuke charged at his ex-teammate. "Die!" Knowing full well that chidori was only a straight line attack, Naruto sidestepped it at the last moment and caught Sasuke's hand, using his opponent's momentum to land him face first into the dirt. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki was ready to use a shocking tag on the Uchiha, but the raven-haired teen used kawarimi to get out of the blond's hold. "Then I'll have to kill you the old-fashioned way." Activating his cursed seal straight to the second level, Sasuke flashed through handseals. "**Katon: gouryuuka!**" He exhaled a large dragon head shaped fireball at Naruto.

"**Doton: doryuheki!**" A mud wall rose in front of the blond sage, blocking the fireball. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki then immediately split the wall into the mass of stone spikes and made them fly at Sasuke in a wide ark. "**Fuuton: reppushou!**" Wind jutsu made the spikes fly faster. Sasuke again used kawarimi to escape the danger, only to find that this was exactly what Naruto expected him to do. "**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" Sasuke's eyes widened a bit: his sharingan could see the attack coming, but like it happened in the chuunin exams, his body was too slow to react, and he was hit square on his chest. Thankfully, the second level of the cursed sealed provided him a great deal of protection and he got away with just scratches and a few bruises from being sent through a couple of trees.

"**Raiton: denryuu!**" Sasuke performed the jutsu, standing up. A large electrical dragon roared around him and charged towards the blond sage.

"**Fuuton: reppushou!**" Wind was superior to lightning, so Naruto's jutsu tore through the lightning dragon, destroying it completely and continued on its way towards Sasuke, who smirked.

"**Katon: gouryuuka!**" The fire jutsu absorbed the wind one, increasing in power, and was still flying at the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Naruto simply jumped away from the path of the fireball. Sasuke was already charging at him with lightning crackling in his hand. "**DIE!**" Sasuke roared as he thrust the **chidori** into Naruto's chest. Only for the blond to disappear in a poof of white smoke.

"Shadow clone is quite a useful jutsu, don't you think so?" The blond asked, catching Sasuke's hands from under the ground. Moments later the Uchiha found himself stuck in the ground with only his head being free. "Now, let's knock you out and bring you back to Konoha..."

"**I will not return to that shithole!**" Sasuke roared, drawing more tainted chakra from the cursed seal. It rose around him, destroying the ground that held him and throwing Naruto, whose sage mode had worn off, back and into a tree. Closing his eyes and hoping that he will live through next four seconds, the blond started collecting nature's energy. It seemed that Sasuke wanted to finish him with something powerful and flashy... "**Katon: keiryuu hitama!**" He performed the jutsu he copied from Tsuki. Naruto, again in his sage mode, sank under the ground, having the powerful fireball sail over him. "**Come out and fight me, dobe!**" Sasuke roared.

"As you wish!" Naruto exploded from under the ground right in front of Sasuke, purple flames around his right hand. Sasuke could see the attack, but, again, his body couldn't move in time to evade. "**Gogyou fuuin!**" The blond sage yelled as he thrust his hand into Uchiha's shoulder. The cursed seal immediately started deactivating, being sealed away by such a powerful blocking seal, making Sasuke scream in pain. Finally, when the seal of five elements was complete, Sasuke fell on the ground unconscious. Naruto was ready to pick him and run towards Konoha, but he was stopped as a silvery blade cut the air right in front of his already extended hands.

"Ku ku ku, Naruto-kun, I can't allow you to take my next body away." Turning his head, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki saw Orochimaru standing several meters away from him. The snake sannin had several superficial wounds on his body and his hair seemed to be burned a bit, but it seemed to be the extent of what an ANBU cell could do to him. Speaking of the ANBU cell, Naruto noticed blood on the blade of Kusanagi sword and the four masks Orochimaru held in his hand. Deciding that he better be prepared for everything, the blond sage unsealed his three-bladed shuriken in its katana form and channeled wind chakra through it. "So you want to fight me?" The sannin asked. Naruto looked at him with determination in his 'sage' eyes.

"If I'm going down, I'll take as much of you with me as I can." Orochimaru sneered and, shrinking his sword to its normal size, attacked the blond shinobi, initiating a kenjutsu match...

* * *

Guren wasn't having a good day at all. This white-haired girl she was fighting against, somehow, could see through all her attacks and she couldn't land a hit on her for a long time. On the other hand, the girl found a way around her defenses, so the shoton user was now burnt, wounded and even lost her left arm. But still she would fight until the end for Orochimaru-sama!

"**Shoton: santouryuu!**" Guren breathed out. Doing such high-level jutsu with only one-handed handseals was ...tiring. Tsuki flashed through her own sequence of handseals.

"**Katon: housenka!**" She exhaled a swarm of small fireballs that hit the crystalline dragons, destroying them. Immediately the white-haired girl performed another jutsu: "**Katon: hisen!**" Slowed down by her loss of blood, Guren had no chance of evading, and was burnt by the stream of fire. Sighing as her job there was done, Tsuki looked around, trying to decide where her assistance will be needed most. Kakashi was tired and a bit wounded, but Kabuto had it worse, though the silver-haired teen managed to bring Sakura down, having made a big cut on the pink-haired girl's back... Tsuki looked at Naruto. The blond jinchuuriki managed to defeat Sasuke, but now was fighting a losing match against Orochimaru: Naruto's blade was very good, but it was no match against the legendary sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi that the snake sannin was wielding. The white-haired girl blinked, and Naruto already had his weapon destroyed, and Orochimaru standing in front of him, ready to kill him. 'You can use any means necessary' She remembered Danzou-sama's words. '_This is my way out. I will protect you, Naruto._'

* * *

Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the death to come: he lost against Orochimaru, and now the sannin will kill him. There was a rustling sound, and instead of a blade through his chest, Naruto felt only the tip of Kusanagi scratch his chest. Opening his eyes, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki saw Tsuki's white hair in front of him as the girl took the sword through her own body.

"Tsuki-chan..." He whispered to his savior. The girl turned her head, and... smiled at him.

"Live... for me... Naruto-kun." And then the life left her body. Moments later an array of seals appeared on her skin, and Tsuki's now lifeless body burst into purple flames. When the flames died down, all that was left from her were ashes and the red ribbon she wore in her braid... Orochimaru, who was as surprised by her sacrifice as Naruto, lowered his blade.

"Ku ku ku... Too bad she died this way. She was an interesting specimen." Naruto growled at the sannin, as he picked up the ribbon and tied it around his left wrist. "I'd like to play with you more, Naruto-kun, but it seems, we will have to cut it short." Following Orochimaru's sight, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki saw Kakashi coming close to taking Kabuto's life. "You three will deliver my message to Konoha: Sasuke-kun is mine and anyone who tries to take him away from me will die." With that words Orochimaru extended his left hand to pull his right hand man away from his death at Kakashi's hands while jumping to Sasuke's unconscious form. Moments later all three disappeared in a burst of purple flames...

~/ ***** **\~

In the end, all four ANBU and Tsuki died, trying to take Sasuke away from Orochimaru. Kakashi had numerous wounds via Kabuto's chakra scalpel, including severed muscles in his left forearm. Naruto left the battlefield with several deep cuts from the Kusanagi sword, thankfully, the Kyuubi took care of the poisoning. Sakura... Sakura had only one wound. A gash on her back going through her seventh and fifth inner gates. She will live, of course, but her shinobi career was over. Using whatever strength he had, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki placed a stasis seal on his pink-haired teammate to save her from bleeding to death, and the three survivors of the battle headed back to Konoha.

~/ ***** **\~

Homura and Koharu entered Tsunade's office, finding the Fifth Hokage fighting a loosing match against piles of paperwork she had to do.

"Tsunade-san, Suna send us a message." Koharu said, placing an official-looking scroll on Hokage's table. "In short, they elected the new Kazekage and want you to meet him." Tsunade sighed and opened the scroll. She quickly looked through it, finding it to be a longer and more diplomatic version of what the elders claimed it to be. Too bad, she didn't pay closer attention to the seal at the end of the document...

"Fine, I'll go there." The Hokage said. "Call Shizune and team Kurenai here." She told to one of the ANBU stationed in the office.

"Well, we will not avert your attention from your job, Tsunade-san." Homura said, and the elder turned around and walked out of the office. No one saw them smirk as they closed the door: without the Hokage present in the village, the council held the power. Now, they will be able to deal with the menace – Uzumaki Naruto – as it should have been done a long time ago, and no one will be able to stop them. Especially with the information about the failure of the Sasuke-retrieval mission Danzou's observer provided...

~/ ***** **\~

As the three members of team seven approached Konoha, Naruto had a growing gut feeling that something will happen to him. So, he decided to avert the whatever danger lurked in the shadow from Kin, who still lived in his flat. Taking a blank scroll, he bit his finger to draw the blood and then quickly drew a key-seal for his emergency transportation seal and added a couple of lines of plain text under it. Then he flashed through handseals.

"**Kuchiyose no jutsu!**" In a poof of smoke the small orange toad by the name Gamakichi appeared.

"Yo, Naruto! What do you want?" The toad asked. Naruto gave him the scroll.

"You know where my flat in Konoha is, right?" The blond jinchuuriki asked. At Gamakichi's nod, he continued. "Give this scroll to the black-haired girl that lives there. And tell her this: 'collect you necessities, Kin-chan, and take the money from the box. If anyone comes to you before use the seal in the scroll on the seal on the floor in the living room. Find Tazuna, he'll help you if you tell him that you are my friend. Then buy a ticked on a ship to Snow country. Find princess Koyuki. She owes me a debt. Show her the message and she'll help you.'" The toad nodded.

"It's a bit long, but I'll remember it all." Taking the scroll from Naruto, Gamakichi went on his mission...

* * *

Several miles away from the Hidden Leaf village, Naruto's feeling was proved correct as a cell of ANBU in blank masks appeared in front of the team seven. One of the ANBU immediately charged at Naruto, slamming a chakra suppressing device into the blond's gut, making him black out. The ANBU picked Naruto's body and the whole cell disappeared via **shunshin**

.

~/ ***** **\~

Tsuchi Kin was reading a scroll on sound-based genjutsu, when she heard someone tapping on the window behind her. Turning around, she saw a breathless orange toad – one of Naruto-sama's summons – siting on the windowsill with a message scroll on its back. The girl opened the window, letting the toad in.

"Naruto-sama sent me a message? Something happened?" Kin asked. Gamakichi nodded.

"Naruto... sent you... this message..." The toad said between its breaths. "Take you nese... necessities and money... from the box... And use the seal... in the scroll... on the seal in... living room..." Gamakichi gave his burden to the girl. "Then find... Tazuna... Tell him Naruto's name for help... Then sail to... Snow country... Find Kyouki... princess there... Naruto has a message to her..."

'_Something serious happened..._' Kin thought. This was the evacuation route Naruto created in case something really bad happened in Konoha. After the toad disappeared in a poof of smoke, the black-haired girl immediately started collecting those few things she owned. Then she took the money and sealed everything into the empty scroll. Just when she done, she heard knocking on the door.

"This is Konoha ANBU. Open the door!" Knowing that she needed to act fast, Kin raced to the living room and, opening the scroll Naruto sent her, slammed it to the seal on the floor. She disappeared from the flat in a poof of smoke... Moments later the front door was knocked down, and an ANBU cell entered in the now empty flat.

"Tiger, you said that the demon whore was here. Where is she?" A Baboon-masked man hissed angrily.

"She couldn't have known we were coming, and no one can run away this fast. She must have used her demonic powers." 'Lizard' said. "Let's hope she won't spawn more demons to attack Konoha." All four men nodded. "Now, let's burn this place!"

~/ ***** **\~

Naruto was woken up roughly. Opening his eyes, the blond shinobi found himself tied to a chair in the council chamber. He still had the chakra suppressor on and an entire platoon of ANBU were standing around him, ready to kill him should he try anything.

"Now. Let us begin." Danzou said. "Uzumaki Naruto, you are charged with: endangering Konohagakure no Sato on a daily basis; killing at least five loyal Konoha shinobi and wounding another, ending her shinobi career; endangering missions by your hostility towards Konoha shinobi forces; and treason. How do you plead?" The old war hawk asked.

"You can't run this process without the Hokage." Naruto stated.

"That would be true if the Hokage was in the village. However Tsunade is approaching Suna right now. Too bad, no one is waiting for her there..." Homura said. "So, how do you plead, demon scum?" Naruto took a deep breath so that he won't lash out at the council.

"Not guilty to all." He said in the most emotionless voice he could. Danzou smiled evilly.

"Scribe, add not assisting the court to the charges." The man looked around the chamber. "Honorable council of the Konohagakure no Sato, now that you see how dangerous the subject is to our village, let us decide the fitting punishment." Hiashi rose from his seat.

"I object, Danzou-dono. You never listened to the boy's side of the story." The heads of Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Aburame and Inuzuka clans nodded in agreement with him. The old war hawk glared at them.

"I have enough evidence to say that all charges are valid. The evidences are, though, too numerous to be presented here and take your valuable time." Danzou paused. "Now, everyone, who are for the public execution of one Uzumaki Naruto tomorrow at noon, raise your hand. The entire civilian half of the council, two elders and Danzou raised their hands. "So, by the decision of majority of the honorable council of Konohagakure no Sato, Uzumaki Naruto will be publicly executed tomorrow at noon."

"I veto this!" Tsume yelled, almost jumping from her seat. Danzou glared at her.

"Only the Hokage can veto the decision of the council. Unfortunately, she won't return in time to save her precious demon. The decision stands." The clan heads attempted to force their veto, but Danzou summoned an entire division of Ne ANBU. "Remove the elements that impede justice." the old war hawk ordered to his men. The eight clan heads, stood no chance against this many ANBU and were soon knocked out.

'_**You are in a deep shit, Naruto-kun.**_' Kyuubi told her container. '**_Shall I help you now?_**' The blond shinobi send a mental glare to the demoness.

'_No. I already know how I will escape... But I will definitely need your assistance later._' He paused in his thoughts. '_This was the third time Konoha betrayed me. We are leaving a little past noon tomorrow._' Kyuubi sighed in the seal.

'**_I told you, you should leave these ungrateful bastards after they tried to punish you for stopping Shukaku. But you didn't listen to me, did you? No... You decided to give them one more chance..._**' She ranted in his head for some time. '_**...Don't die on me, Naruto-kun.**_'

'_I won't._' Her container assured her.

"ANBU, take the demon to the holding cells." Danzou ordered, and Naruto's world again went black.

~/ ***** **\~

That evening the execution of the Kyuubi no Yoko was announced throughout the village, as a must-attend event for everyone within the walls of Konoha. The next morning several platoons of Ne ANBU made sure that as many people as possible were there at the main square of the village. Next to the Hokage tower there was a platform built overnight. It had three seats for Danzou and the village elders, small tribune for Danzou to give the speech and a pole, on which 'the Kyuubi' will be. Underneath the pole, hidden from everyone without the byakugan were two seals. One was another version of a disruptor seal, made to negate the Shiki fuuin and release the Kyuubi on Naruto's death. The other was the same yoki absorption and containment seal Tsuki was given. So, if everything went according to Danzou's plan, it would look like Kyuubi tried to break free, but will be immediately 'defeated' because of his 'quick and heroic actions'. Then, one of his stoolies will call for Danzou to be the Sixth Hokage. Because people will see him as a savior and Tsunade as someone who allowed the demon to roam throughout the village, the Godaime will be overthrown the moment she returns to the village...  
And even though all of the major clans and Naruto's friends came here wearing all black, the biggest part of the human mass was dresses like today was the greatest holiday of the year, so this relatives small opposition won't be able to do anything to endanger Danzou's plan.

"Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of the great konohagakure no Sato, today you were assembled here to witness the demon who roamed among us being killed." Danzou waited for the cheers from the people to die down. "Today shall be marked as the day when Konohagakure no Sato was freed from the menace that the Sandaime Hokage in his foolishness allowed to enter the village. Today we will correct that mistake and finish what Yondaime-sama started. Today the Kyuubi no Yoko will die!" The people – minus the black-clad part – exploded into more cheers. Then two Ne ANBU shunshin'ed onto the platform with Naruto dragged by them. The blond was blindfolded, gagged and had his arms and legs chained. The ANBU hang the boy onto the hook on the pole. "The executioner will be our beloved Hatake Kakashi, a hero of the third great shinobi war." The black-clad silver-haired jounin slowly and unwillingly walked onto the platform. "Let the Kyuubi die!" Danzou announced. Kakashi slowly performed the handseals for his prized jutsu.

"I'm sorry, Naruto..." The man mouthed out as the **raikiri **started in his left hand. Suddenly a pink-haired blur ran through the people assembled, and, appearing in front of the crowd was revealed to be one Haruno Sakura.

"Stop it!" She yelled, having Kakashi stop the jutsu, letting the lightning in his hand die down. Danzou rose from his seat and glared at the girl.

"Why do you interrupt the execution of the Kyuubi, little girl?" He asked threateningly. Sakura swallowed nervously, but answered a moment later.

"Be-because I want to kill the demon myself!" The old war hawk looked at her narrowly.

"Oh, yes, you are Haruno Sakura, the one whose shinobi career was ended by this scum." Danzou said, nodding towards Naruto. "You have your right to want revenge." The man turned to look at Kakashi. "Hatake-san, do you wish to give your place of the executioner to this fine young lady?" The silver-haired jounin nodded, maybe a bit too eagerly. "Then, Haruno-san, please get onto the platform." Sakura proudly did as she was asked, while Kakashi hurriedly walked away to join the black-clad group of Naruto 'supporters'. "For this service to the great Konohagakure no Sato Haruno Sakura will be granted a lifetime seat on the honorable council." The crowd applauded and cheered.

"Can I have a sword?" Sakura asked. Danzou looked at the girl. She looked like she dressed in a hurry to get there, and had no ninja tools on her – she was now a civilian and only woke up from her wound this morning. The war hawk nodded.

"ANBU, give her a sword." He ordered. One of his Ne ANBU unsheathed his ninja-to and gave it to Sakura. The pink-haired ex-kunochi walked up to Naruto.

"This is for what you did to me, to Sasuke-sama, and everyone in this village. This is our revenge!" Sakura said, pointing the blade at blond's neck, while the crowd cheered for her. Then she swung the sword...

* * *

That's all folks. Leave me a **review**!

* * *

Oh, and some information about Tsuki-chan:

**age**: ? , 16 by looks;  
**height**: 144 cm / 4'10";  
**weight**: 36 kg;  
**chakra reserves**: Kage+ (approximately equal to those of the Yondaime Raikage and he has the biggest reserves among all Kages);  
**chakra control**: jounin level;  
**ninjutsu skills**: lower Kage;  
**taijutsu skills**: lower Kage;  
**genjutsu skills**: lower jounin;  
**kenjutsu skills**: upper chuunin (she doesn't carry any short-ranged weapons other than kunai, though);  
**overall level**: lower Kage.

**Biological parents**: N/A (lab creation)  
**DNA donors**: Uchiha Itachi, Hiashi (Hizashi) Hyuuga, Akimichi Chouza, Uzumaki Kushina.

Kushina's DNA was used to create her female side and also to give her potent chakra and big reserves. Akimichi DNA used to further increase her chakra reserves, to increase the limit of the damage from attacks with blunt objects her body can take, and for the ability to temporary increase her metabolism. The mixture of Uchiha and Hyuuga DNA is to give her her special eyes and fine chakra control.

Tsuki-chan has unnamed doujutsu that possesses sharingan's abilities to predict attacks, read nin-, gen- and taijutsu and cast powerful illusions. From the byakugan Tsuki got the ability to see chakra networks and see through solid objects.

Unfortunately, this whole genetic mixture is a bit unstable (UW-01 and UW-02 died for that reason, before they were even woken up for the first time) and Tsuki-chan needs to take the stabilizer every two days or after each time she actively uses chakra. Without the stabilizer she can survive at most five days if she is not using chakra.

Tsuki-chan was designed to be an emotionless warrior and completely loyal to Danzou, so he didn't even give her the 'silencing' seal – what a mistake... But it was proven that braking 'no emotions' code is rather simple... With her emotions back, Tsuki is normally a bit meek, quiet and kind girl, she doesn't like hurting anyone, and her loyalty to Naruto is as big as the loyalty to Danzou she started with. In the end, she found a way out of the conflict of these loyalties by sacrificing herself to save Naruto from Orochimaru.


	19. Restart

Hello, everyone. And the new chapter of the "_**Konoha's young sage**_" story is here! Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
to everyone: Yes, **I'm evil**, but that cliffhanger was ...needed in my mind.  
**doragonculaw**, **eclipseX**, **fanficreader71**, **Sephieroth**, **RasenShuriken92**, **Kyukon**, **Skelo**, **Irishfighter**, **Timetravelviajutsu**, **RandomAmazingness**, **kenpachi-sama**, **c im am a dragon**, **nonjames**, **hunternin64**, thank you, folks.  
**AZant**, they will be punished.  
**FFwatchdog**, Tsuki has an excuse of being 'overpowered OC'. After all, she's the 'ultimate warrior'. Oh, as bad artist as I am, **I** still **tried to draw her**. Interested? **The link's in my profile**.**  
Naginator**, so, not much for their reactions...  
**Hanzo of the Salamander**, Um... ?  
**Trooper0007**, nope, but no one will be unpunished. *evil grin***  
Jackiely**, no killing in the fox mode. But only Danzou will live through the week.  
**Reishin Amara**, the idea with the seal is interesting, but a bit too hard for Naruto's current abilities. I think, I will use it later on... Do you mind? As for the Tsuki-flashbacks... There's one in this chapter, and I will try to do more later on.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, Kakashi -unfortunately- broke his code and chose his duty over comrade, even though he **doesn't** want to harm Naruto. The gang didn't knew where Naruto was taken, and ...450 with average level of chuunin against 1500 ninja (again, chuunin level on average) + 25000 civilians? If they tried to fight to free him, they'll just get massacred. Also, even though Naruto's no longer a part of Konoha, the title stays.  
**Elemental Dragon Swordman**, no, Sakura will be left alive to suffer in her new civilian state.  
**deadw8**, um... readable English, please?**  
Artemis-Ikana**, **Icecce**, no one will be left unpunished.

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Doton: iwa bushin** - (B-rank) Earth style: stone clone - creates stone-made solid copy of user. Stone clones are physically strong and have their own mind (although very weak so are most effectively used as a 'puppets'). Stone clones are easily affected by genjutsu. They are pretty hard to destroy physically, but have limited lifetime (the more chakra they are given when created, the longer their 'life' is). To create stone clone user must be near any source of material for clone (stone/brick-made walls, stone blocks, stones, sandy/rocky ground etc.)  
**Kawarimi **- (E-rank) Change of body stance - substitutes user with nearby object  
**Izanagi **(forbidden ninjutsu/genjutsu) – Allows the user to 'bend their reality' with this sharingan genjutsu, it is capable of feats such as making the users death into an illusion or to prevent wounds. It comes at the price of the sharingan of the user losing its sight permanently.  
**Onipou: katon: yaku no kinoe** - (unranked demonic jutsu) demonic arts: fire style: burning shield - stronger and more versatile version of shishi enjin. forms a purple barrier around the user, those that touch it are incinerated.  
**Magen: kyuumaru no jigoku** - demonic illusions: ninth circle of the hell - has the same effects as killing intent when applied just with increased abilities  
**Onipou: kyokugeru** - (unranked demonic jutsu) demonic arts: warp- a form of teleportation technique utilizing yoki. Has no range limits (besides the amount of yoki places).  
**Kuchiyose no jutsu** - (A-rank) Summoning - Time-space ninjutsu that summons object/animal (requires signed contract with that type of animals) to user's location  
**Gyaku kuchiyose** - (unknown rank) reverse summoning - acts in an opposite way to the normal summoning. Gyaku kuchiyose allows animal to summon human to its location. the only know species to perform this jutsu are toads.  
**Kage bushin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**Senpou: kawaze naki** - (unranked sage jutsu) Sage arts: toad croak - After focusing Sage chakra to their throats, both Fukasaku and Shima sing, releasing large, loud, and immensely powerful sound waves that effectively annoy, distract, and temporarily paralyze the target completely.  
**Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.  
**Doton: Doryuudan** - (unknown rank. must be B or A) Earth style: earth dragon projectile - using chakra, user creates dragon head from mud. Dragon head will shoot mud balls at its target.  
**Rasengan **- (A-rank) Spiral sphere - rasengan is a tight ball of compressed fast-rotating chakra (or yoki) that does tremendous drilling damage.  
**Senpou: fuuton: kazekambou** - sage arts: wind style: prison cell – creates a prison around the target composed of wind.

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**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
Messages  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

**_

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_**Special thanks to _**CloudBloodBane **_for beta-reading this chapter!

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**Konoha's young sage**  
**chapter 16: Restart**

Then Sakura swung the sword... But instead of the metal cutting the flesh, there was only a sound of metal hitting stone... Naruto's body suddenly turned brownish-gray, before falling apart as a mass of small stones several moments later. It was an Iwa bunshin... At the same time the clone's existence came to an end, the entire square was flooded with killing intent, the likes of which Konoha hadn't felt in thirteen years... Those few, who could at least move a little bit, looked up to see the source of the KI. It just happened to be Naruto. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki was sitting atop one of the pillars that stood over the Hokage tower's roof. He was wearing a black cloak with a choker and he was surrounded by a damn pyre of red yoki.

"**Hmm... So this is the Konoha Shodaime-sama, Nidaime-sama, Sandaime-sama and my father fought and died for?**" The blond boy asked no one in particular, at the same time almost revealing that he was the Yondaime's son. "**If you ask me now, you, people, are worse than demons. They at least have an honor, you lot seem to lack.**" He continued, now talking to the people on the square, at least those who came there to watch the show Danzou had staged.

"How... dare you, demon!" The old war-hawk hissed angrily. Naruto only laughed at the old man, his demonic laughter sending chills through everyone's spines.

"**Danzou-teme... How could I forget about you?**" The boy glared at him.

"How in the nine circles of hell did you get free?" Homura asked the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

**flashback**

_ It was a little past midnight, when Naruto, who had all his limbs chained to the different corners of the wall, decided that it was time to act. Thanks to the mission to the Land of Snow, he already knew how to overcharge the chakra suppressor without losing much chakra... It was going to be a relatively long and painful process, but no one can suppress the unlimited energy the nature itself possessed... Ten minutes later, the damned device finally gave in and broke, making the blond jinchuuriki able to use his chakra now._

_ 'Let's begin.' Naruto thought as he formed a set of one-handed handseals with his right hand. "**Doton: Iwa bushin!**" Naruto made sure to channel enough chakra for the clone to last for a couple of days – this way it would definitely live till the 'execution'. When the stone clone was complete, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki used a simple seal-less **kawarimi **to exchange their places. "Ah... sweet freedom..." The blond whispered as he rubbed his sore wrists. Then he just walked through the wall, using a simple doton jutsu. Why no one had thought about warding the cell against this was beyond him..._

** the end of the flashback**

"**Oh, elder-san... How can I phrase it...**" Naruto mockingly tapped his chin with a finger. "**Oh, yes, it's a trade secret.**" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki answered, before pausing for a moment. "**Now, It's time for the one certain wish to come true...**" He trailed off, remembering that evening...

**flashback**

_ "C-Can I ask you something, Naruto?" The white-haired kunoichi whispered. The jinchuuriki nodded._

_ "Sure, Tsuki-chan, what is it?" The girl sniffed, before raising her head from his shoulder and looking into his eyes._

_ "You are interested in what I am, I will tell you now..." She whispered, as three black rings appeared around her pupils on her blood-red irises. "I'm a creation of the laboratory, born from the DNA of Uchiha Itachi, Hiashi Hyuuga, Chouza Akimichi and Uzumaki Kushina to be the ultimate warrior for the Hidden Leaf..." She noticed how surprised Naruto was._

_ "You... You are my... my cousin, Tsuki-chan!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki exclaimed, hugging the white-haired girl to his chest. She looked up and nodded uncertainly, before smiling at him, deep inside, though, feeling dread from what may happen next._

_ "Be as it may, I was given a mission... A mission I don't want to do..." She paused to calm her emotions down a bit, so that she won't break down crying again right now. "If I die before Uchiha Sasuke is brought back to Konoha... Please... Make sure that I am the last... I don't want myself or my... sisters to cause the unneeded pain..." Naruto was looking at her intensively, trying to process what she asked. "I... I want you to destroy the laboratory I was born at." Pause. "Please, Naruto-kun, do that! I beg you..." She pleaded to him with teary eyes... A couple of tense seconds later, the blond shinobi nodded. Sighing in relief, Tsuki asked for a scroll to draw the schemes of the laboratory and its security for him. Somehow, she already knew... felt, that it would be him, who will blow that damned complex up..._

**The end of the flashback**

"**Here is you wish, Tsuki-chan.**" The blond jinchuuriki made a one-handed handseal and the next moment an explosion rocked the village. Those who could look at the pillar of smoke and dust rising above what everyone thought was an abandoned part of Konoha. Danzou went pale, as he knew what exactly was destroyed... "**Rest in peace.**" Naruto muttered to the skies, before looking down at the old war-hawk. "**Shimura Danzou, you were found guilty in trying to play a God. And even though it gave me Tsuki-chan, a cousin I never had, and that was your punishment.**"

"How... How dare you even speak her name, killer?" One of the civilian councilmen, who suddenly almost broke free from the killing intent, yelled. Naruto fixed his blue edging towards purple eyes with slitted pupils on him.

"**And what do you know about what happened?**" The demon container asked, lifting the left sleeve of his cloak and showing two ribbons tied around his left wrist. The red one was the one Tsuki wore in her braid. Next to it was the black one, Naruto added this night. "**Tsuki-chan sacrificed herself for me. And she died with a smile. Her last words were a wish for me to live for her. Yet now you lot are spitting at the sacrifice of the angel she was, the piles of shit you are.**"

"As if there is anyone who would wish to sacrifice a single hair for you, demon scum." The councilman sneered, making Naruto want to come down and slit his throat with nothing but his claws. Instead, the young jinchuuriki flashed the man, and those who voiced their agreement with him, with a wave of concentrated KI, making them pee their pants.

"**Humans are such despicable creatures sometimes... Yet once in a while a pure angel is born among them. And you made this angel choose death over life...**" The blond sage took a deep breath to calm himself down so that he will not massacre three quarters of Konoha. If he did that, his father would find a way out of Shinigami-sama's stomach and would drag him there to suffer for the rest of eternity... "**Anyway... Continuing our impromptu trial... Shimura Danzou, you are charged with and found guilty in grave-robbing Shodaime-sama and the Uchiha clan.**" Naruto ignored the gasps from the public. "**Your punishment is your right arm.**" Only a few noticed how the old war-hawk paled when the 'punishment' was announced – with the power of his arm sealed he couldn't use **Izanagi **more than once, and he definitely didn't want to sacrifice Shisui's sharingan he had as his right eye under wraps... Naruto removed his hitae-ate and tore the metallic plate from the cloth. **"Make no mistake, this village has betrayed my trust in it for the last time, and I'm not staying here any longer.**" And he threw the metallic plate at Danzou. The old man seemed to dodge it, but at the last moment a meter long blades of wind chakra emerged from it, cutting his off right arm, along with a good portion of the shoulder. And now people could see that the arm was made via mokuton. It was indeed created using the Shodaime's DNA...

"Kill him." Danzou hissed to his Ne ANBU as he tried to stop the bleeding. Three cells of the Root ANBU jumped at Naruto with their ninja-to drawn.

"**Onipou: katon: yaku no kinoe!**" A purplish bubble of yoki appeared around Naruto and those ANBU who were unlucky to touch it, were incinerated. "**Now, now, now... I'm not finished yet... Shimura Danzou, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Hotaru, you are charged with and found guilty in the attempt of overthrowing the rightful Hokage. The punishment will be dealt by Tsunade-sama when she returns.**" Naruto made a small pause. "**And now to you lot, who came here to celebrate my 'death'... I'd let Kyuubi loose on you, but I don't feel that you're worthy enough to even be in her presence... So... Magen: kyuumaru no jigoku!**" It wasn't a true genjutsu actually, more like an amplification of the visions caused by concentrated killing intent – Naruto doubled the 'output' – but it did its work as people, whom the Kyuubi jinchuuriki targeted, were affected, to different extent, but affected nonetheless. Most of those people, being civilians, fell onto the ground as their minds shut down from their psyches being damaged heavily... "**Hmm... I can no longer stand you lot, humans of Konohagakure no Sato.**" A small pause. **"Onipou: kyokugeru!**" And Naruto disappeared in a flash of yoki, leaving the bubble of the burning shield to disperse above the shaken crowd.

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto reappeared in the clearing where he fought against Kimimaro. Suppressing the yoki, he bit his finger to blood and flashed through five handseals, before slamming his palm onto the grassy ground.

"**Kuchiyose no jutsu!**" In a poof of the white smoke, an old toad in a dark-gray cloak appeared. "Mornin' Fukasaku-sensei." Naruto said to the toad.

"**Hello, Naruto-chan. Why are you summoning me? And where is your hitae-ate?**" The toad sage elder asked his apprentice. Naruto didn't hesitate to glare at him at the mention of the hitae-ate.

"Konoha betrayed my trust in it for the last time... I am no longer a part of the village. To think that I am the same biological species with them... I want you to bring me to the Mebokuzan, Fukasaku-sensei." Naruto said a bit angrily. Seeing him in this state, Fukasaku nodded.

"**But you will tell me the details eventually.**" Naruto grunted in response. "**Fine.**" The toad sage elder sighed and did a handseal. "**Gyaku kuchiyose no jutsu!**" Moment later Naruto disappeared in a poof of smoke as he was sent to the Toads' mountain...

**~/ *** \~**

Without his right arm, Danzou had to flee to whatever was left from his base. And as some of his dirty secrets were revealed to the public and the spectacle of him 'destroying the Kyuubi' failed, people wouldn't really want him as their new Hokage anymore. The village was left divided in three parts: those who will continue standing by Tsunade; those, who still wanted the old war-hawk to take the hat; and, the biggest part, those who didn't want either of them to be Hokage.

So the situation in the village, when Tsunade returned angry for being made a fool of, was on a brink of a civil war. And when Ibiki and ANBU loyal to her passed her the message from Naruto, she went ballistic and thus the Konoha's three hour war started... Tsunade showed everyone why exactly she was one of the sannin, by taking over the village and making sure that there will be no Rokudaime Hokage soon. Of course, to keep people from starting a partisan war on the streets of Konoha, she had to – what it seemed, at least – give more rights to the council, which was now short two elders – they were executed for the treason – but gained Sakura instead. In all truth, the fact that Naruto fled the prison cell, leaving an Iwa bunshin behind, saved her life: by Danzou's plan, the executor of Naruto would be killed by the freed yoki, before the man will seal it away – he never intended to actually give the girl a seat on the council...

And as Naruto left the village out of his own will, Tsunade could do nothing but make him a missing-nin, A-rank with capture on sight orders... All in all, the situation in the Hidden leaf was tense, but everyone, who resided there that is, hoped that it will get better soon...

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto was lying on a large leaf, watching the moon, as he held the red ribbon in his hand. And today was no different from any other day of the past two months. The blond youth barely spoke with anyone, preferring to spend the time alone. And if he spoke to anyone, that anyone was either Fukasaku or Shima or Gamabunta. Jiraiya who appeared on the mountain twice, couldn't get more than a sad sigh and a brief glance from the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. The way Tsuki-chan's sacrifice was treated back at Konoha practically destroyed Naruto's faith in humanity, and now he rejected everyone who walked on two legs. Other than the demoness in his seal, of course...

"**Naruto-chan, we got another messaging lizard. Someone really wants to talk to you.**" Fukasaku said as he leaped on the leaf the blond ninja was on. Naruto didn't look at him, but sighed and tied the ribbon back around his left wrist. The toad sage elder growled. "**Naruto-chan! I allowed you to wallow in your darkness for quite some time. This ends now! You can't reject the world completely, just because one village doesn't understand you.**" He got no reaction other than another sigh from the young jinchuuriki. "**That's it!**" Accessing his sage mode, Fukasaku tapped Naruto's shoulder, sending the blond flying from the leaf... The Kyuubi jinchuuriki regrouped in the air and landed on the surface of the river on his legs. Fukasaku landed several meters away from him. **"I may be old, true, but if someone needs to beat the folly out of your head, I'm good enough for the task.**" And the toad sage elder attacked his blond apprentice with a sage taijutsu combo.

"**Kage bunshin!**" Naruto summoned a good dozen shadow clones and substituted himself with the one of them, knowing full well how powerful the small toad was. The rest of the clones got the mental order to hold Fukasaku back, while their creator was entering his own sage mode... Thankfully for Naruto, twelve clones were enough to busy his toad sensei for four seconds.

**"Senpou: kawaze naki!**" The old toad unleashed a powerful sound waves at Naruto, having the blond blown away into the stem of a large plant that grew by the river. Before Naruto could get up, Fukasaku sent a sage-powered 'fuuton: daitoppa' at him, forcing the blond to kawarimi away.

"**Doton: doryuudan!**" A dragon head started shooting mud projectiles at the old toad, but he was fast enough to avoid them all. Using the jutsu as a distraction, Naruto was coming at Fukasaku with a ball of chakra in his hand. "**Rasengan!**" The toad elder simply ducked under his apprentice's attack, before giving him a hit on his back, making him fall to the ground.

"**Senpou: fuuton: kazekambou!**" Wind formed a cell around fallen Naruto as Fukasaku approached him. "**Now, Naruto-chan, you will listen to me.**" The toad sage elder said, placing his hands behind his back. "**Yes, Konoha completely betrayed you. And it will pay for that. But why are you rejecting those who never were anything but friendly to you?**" Fukasaku got only a growl in a response. "**What about the nymph? Or the jinchuuriki of the Shichibi? Or the people of the Wave? Or that princess? Or even your own godfather?**" Another growl. "**Are your attempts of summoning her spirit by looking at the moon all the time worth all these people?**"

"You dare..." Waves of red energy exploded from the blond jinchuuriki as he forcefully drew the yoki from the Kyuubi. The wind cage shattered under this power, as the yoki formed three-tailed cloak around Naruto's body. "**You dare... You dare to disrespect Tsuki-chan?**" Naruto roared, before charging at Fukasaku blindly. Still, only decades of experience and the sage mode saved the old toad's life.

'_**Damn... He went berserk!**_' The toad elder muttered in his mind. '_**Thank the gods, Jiraiya-chan left suppression seals. I'm too old to win a full-out fight against this...**_' Fukasaku dodged another of Naruto's attacks and prepared to place a seal on the blond's forehead, when his eyes widened in fear: the jinchuuriki was creating a rasengan from Kyuubi's yoki? And with the speed Naruto now possessed, Fukasaku stood no chance in escaping the effects of this attack completely... The toad sage elder leaped away, closing his eyes and awaiting the shock wave from the rasengan to hit him. It never came. Opening his eyes, Fukasaku saw Naruto staring at his arms as the yoki-cloak was disappearing. '_**Looks like the Kyuubi doesn't like to be used... I must say, it may have saved my life.**_' The toad sage elder threw a punch at Naruto, sending him into the stem of a giant fern. Then he unsealed chains and tied Naruto to the stem with them. After that Fukasaku placed a yoki-suppression seal on the blond's forehead. "**You will listen to me, Naruto-chan.**" The blond sage grunted. "**First, I meant no disrespect for Tsuki-san, but, Naruto-chan, all you do is looking at the moon or at that ribbon. It can't continue like that.**"

'_**The old toad is right.**_' Kyuubi spoke to her container. '_**She wanted you to live. Live! Not to distance yourself from everyone, and sit on that damned leaf for the rest of your life!**_' Her answer was a silence. '_**Get yourself together damn it!**_'

'_Mn..._' Naruto moaned in his thoughts in an annoyed way, making a tick mark appear on Kyuubi's forehead.

_**'Naruto-kun! I know, Konoha has dealt you a hard blow, but stand up and continue walking through your life without those bastards.**_' She made a small pause in her rant. '_**Do you really think your Tsuki-chan will be happy with how you are wasting the life she gave hers for?**_' Yes, that was a low blow, but at least it worked.

'_Fine._' The blond jinchuuriki replied lifelessly.

'_**Good. Now get up from your arse and send a message to your kitten from Kumo... Or ask that girl from the Waterfall for an outing?.. That princess you protected in the Snow wouldn't mind you at all too... In other words, stop wasting your life there and show your Tsuki-chan how you can live!**_' Naruto nodded, still pretty much lifelessly. '_**Oh, and I'm quite angry at you for using my power without asking. When you are finished with the toad, get your handsome self in here so that I can punish you.**_' The blond teen moaned, but nodded – when Kyuubi was angry, it was better to do like she says...

"**Do you hear me, Naruto-chan?**" Fukasaku asked as he saw that Naruto spaced out.

"Um, what were you talking about, sensei?" The blond jinchuuriki asked, almost making the toad sage elder to face palm... The old toad coughed and looked into his apprentice's eyes.

"**I was telling you that you mourned enough, and it's time to stop rejecting everyone around you.**" Much to his surprise, Naruto slowly nodded.

"Fine..."

**~/ *** \~**

Yugito was returning from yet another mission, and now was resting about two days away from Kumo, when a toad with a message scroll on its back approached her.

'_And so the fox finally decided to grace me with his answer._' The Nibi jinchuuriki thought, as she took the scroll from the toad. Opening it, she read the message.

_Hello,_  
_ I hope I didn't offend you too much with my silence, Yugito-chan. It's just... I had a lot on my plate lately... Well, it was... I will tell you in detail, when we meet. We will, right? But that will be sometime later. I still need a month or so to come to terms with what happened to me... And if I can, I'd like to stay with you – you might have heard that I'm no longer a part of Kono-... that village's shinobi forces. That is, if you don't want to get money for capturing me._  
_ N.U._

Yugito might have laughed at the last sentence, if she didn't know somehow that he was completely serious when he wrote it. Whatever happened at Konoha, hit him hard. She could feel it. Sighing, the container of the two-tailed cat looked somewhere far away, as if trying to see her fellow jinchuuriki. Then she unsealed her own inkwell and brush and started writing him an answer...

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto sighed as he tied his hitae-ate onto his head; it just no longer felt right for him to have nothing there... But instead of an insignia of any know village, his had two kanji that formed the word "sennin" pressed out. The blond glanced into the mirror, checking how his new clothes looked. He had a dark-blue jacket, the ribbons still tied around his left wrist, and even darker, almost black, pants with a kunai holster on the right side. Sighing again, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki pulled out the black long-sleeved cloak with a hood on. Then there was the final touch to his new looks, a big scroll to store his possessions that went onto his back, making the blond look like a black version of the mixture of his father's and Jiraiya's appearances. Nodding to himself, Naruto walked out of the house, creating a rasengan in his right hand for several seconds. He had finally mastered the jutsu without his sage mode and was now working on incorporating his wind element into it, though without any success so far...

"**Ready to face the world again, Naruto-chan?**" Fukasaku asked, as he came up to his apprentice. The blond sage nodded slowly as he was mentally telling the toads' village at mt. Meboku good bye.

"Yeah, let's see, what I can do there on my own..." He said, thinking about where to go first. Suna seemed to be a good option as he was interested in what happened to Gaara, and after the failed invasion and his, also failed, execution later, the relationship of Hidden Sand with Konoha was more than a little strained: the chances that they will turn against him were low. Plus he had two more weeks before 'meeting' with Yugito to waste...

"**You just remember that the toads will always stand by your side, Naruto-chan.**" Fukasaku said, before adding mentally. '_**I hope, this time you will have a better luck in what you are doing...**_' The Kyuubi jinchuuriki nodded and the toad sage elder did a handseal to cancel his summoning there, making the blond disappear in a poof of smoke.

**~/ *** \~**

Gaara was standing on a dune under the dark skies of the sandstorm. No normal human would like such a weather, but Gaara wasn't normal in this sense. Because of his demon, over which he now had almost full control, the red-haired jinchuuriki wasn't touched by the storm, so he could just stand there, watching the powers of nature ravage in the desert... Suddenly Gaara saw a cloaked figure approaching him. The jinchuuriki of the one-tailed demon had heard about the Akatsuki organization, but this man didn't seem to be the one of them: first, he was alone, and, second, the redhead could feel yoki coming from him... But even if the man was an enemy, fighting against Gaara in the middle of the desert was a suicide for anyone less than Kage level in strength... As the figure came closer, Gaara recognized the yoki as the one he had felt before. And as the only yoki, other than Ichibi's, he had ever felt close was the one that came from Naruto, the red-haired jinchuuriki could clearly identify the person.

"Welcome to the land of Winds, Naruto-san." Gaara stated in his ever-emotionless voice when the other demon container came close enough to hear him through the storm. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki came to Gaara's sphere of influence, where there was no storm, and canceled his yoki-made shield he used to protect himself from the sands.

"Hello, Gaara." The blond answered, before adding: "Nice to finally meet you outside the battlefield."

"Same here." There was a small pause. "I have heard quite a lot about your ...adventures several month ago." The red-haired jinchuuriki stated.

"Including me parting my ways with Konoha, I presume?" Gaara nodded at Naruto's question.

"True... While even I will say that you went a little overboard with your parting ...gift, I do not accuse you for protecting your ...family's honor. My informant in Konoha told me as much." The redhead said. Naruto sighed.

"So... Can I assume that you will not hand me over to them?" Gaara shook his head once.

"No. Per my word you are seen as a kind of a hero, who stopped the demon. Even if you are now an A-rank missing-nin in Konoha, Suna will welcome you." The red-haired jinchuuriki said.

"Not to say that I'm not grateful, but I do not wish to tie myself to any village. Yet. But a stay on for a couple of days will be mostly welcome." Gaara nodded.

"Follow me then, Naruto-san."

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto spend three days in the Hidden Sand with Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. Then he bid them farewell and was on his way to the land of Waves where he was going to meet with Yugito...

Surprisingly, his travel through the Fire country was eventless, but maybe him dropping from the face of the earth for three months had something to do with no one looking for him... In the end, nine days after he left Suna behind, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki reached the bridge he helped in building. The blond knew that he was kind of a hero there, but the fact that the bridge was named after him, caught him by surprise.

Shrugging Naruto continued on his way towards the town where Tazuna lived, but when reached the other end of the bridge, he saw his fellow jinchuuriki leaning against a stop pillar that held the bridge's arc.

"And so, he graces me with his presence after so long..." Yugito muttered under her breath, but thanks to amplified senses, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki still heard her a bit. "Hello there, Naruto-kun."

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That's all folks. Leave me a **review**!

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Heh, I'm in the big league now - over 100 000 words and over 200 000 hits. Plus 625 favorites and **666 **alerts. Thanks!

**ALSO**: Link to Tsuki'd portrait is now posted in my profile.


	20. Old acquaintances

Hello everyone! Here's the newest chapter of the "_**Konoha's young sage**_" story! Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**hunternin64**, Danzou will be killed within, say, five chapters. The _whore _is civilian and should suffer from that.  
**Elemental Dragon Swordman**, Naruto, from now on, will never be away from Yugito for more than two chapters (I have an idea for a good filler that requires that ^_^)  
**nobother**, **Naginator**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **fanficreader71**, **Irishfighter**, **EbonPurlight**, **eclipseX**, **Mayhem296**, **nonjames**, **Aeroshadowclone**, **c im am a dragon**, thank you, folks!  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, Kushina's the spirit. The best she can do is: haunting those who made her Naru-chan suffer and trying to convince Naruto to do more damage to the village.  
**Reishin Amara**, no one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten.  
**doragonclaw**, thanks. As for your questions, answers in order: read the chapter, read the chapter and yes.  
**AZant**, the council will get what they deserve. With time.  
**rinneganmight**, Tsuki will not be revived, Naruto is a sage and will not disturb her spirit. The ribbon though (along with the black one) will always be on his left wrist from now on.**  
Xeiden**, dunno, hadn't read "_**Kingdom hearts**_".  
**JPMod**, Sakura's situation with the council is explained in this chapter. And with time, she'll be removed from there too.  
**TheDragonOfAwesomeness**, random Leaf nins will run into Naruto from time to time... And he will appear close to Konoha once to punish_ the snake_ for playing God with his experiments.  
**waterblade**, special modification of the rasengan - that 'moon' jutsu?  
**dbtiger63**, Naruto's sage mode will be 'updated' once more. And the Kyuubi jinchuuriki will have a training in senpou ninjutsu and genjutsu... As for my sage mode being weaker - I'd say it is just more realistic.

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**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
Messages  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

**_

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_**Special thanks to _**CloudBloodBane **_for beta-reading this chapter!

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**Konoha's young sage**  
**chapter 17: Old acquaintances**

After the exchange of greetings, the two jinchuuriki started walking towards Tazuna's house. For several minutes they were walking without any words spoken between them, but then Yugito broke the silence.

"So, Naruto-kun... I've heard that you're now a missing-nin? Something happen? You seem to be the loyal type." The Nibi jinchuuriki asked.

"The stupid council happened. They tried to kill me for living through the mission when their agent didn't." Naruto replied angrily. "They didn't even take into account that Tsuki-chan sacrificed herself for me." The blond kunoichi raised an eyebrow.

"Tsuki-chan? She must have been someone close to you..." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki slowly nodded, while glancing at the ribbons on his left wrist.

"She was an angel, my cousin." He answered finally. Yugito placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze.

"My condolences." There was a pause then. "...I thought that you had no living relatives. Didn't you say that yourself in Snow country?" Naruto stiffened a bit.

"Tsuki-chan was... created." After several long seconds of silence the Kyuubi jinchuuriki continued, "I don't want to talk about that." Yugito nodded in understanding.

"OK..." And the duo of demon containers continued walking in silence. They passed the lake near where team seven fought Zabuza for the first time. It looked like nothing changed there for that time... Finally the blond shinobi decided to break the silence.

"Hmm... Yugito-chan, how have you been doing these last few months?" The kunoichi next to him huffed playfully.

"Interested, are we?" Naruto only sighed, not really in the mood for her games. "Well, go there do that, go elsewhere, and kill that one, something like that and of course, waiting for you to answer my messages." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki lowered his head a bit.

"Sorry... it was just... Just that whole thing hit me really hard." Yugito playfully hit him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about that..." And they spent the rest of the walk in silence...

* * *

Less than half an hour later the jinchuuriki duo reached Tazuna's house. To Naruto it looked almost like before, only in better shape, repaired and freshly painted. Yugito having never been there before, had no other image of the house to compare to what she was seeing... After a moment of hesitation, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki knocked on the door. Moments later there were footsteps heard and the door was opened by a dark-haired woman. She looked at the two shinobi in front of her.

"Hello," Then Naruto removed his hood. "Naruto?" She asked, not really believing her eyes, before hugging the teen to her chest. For some reason Yugito felt a little sting of jealousy. Was she falling for her fellow demon container? "Is that really you, Naruto? How have you been?" Tsunami asked, finally letting him go from her embrace.

"Who's there, mom?" A boy of about eight years old peeked in from the corridor. The boy, Inari, then recognized one of the guests. "Naruto-niisan, you are back!" He exclaimed, launching himself at the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, who caught him and ruffled his hair.

"Yeah, I decided to visit my friends." Naruto said with a small chuckle. "By the way, I haven't introduced you. Yugito-chan, this is Tsunami-san," Naruto said, gesturing to the dark-haired woman, "and her son Inari." He ruffled the boy's hair again. "Tsunami-san, Inari-kun, this is Yugito Nii." The women bowed to each other politely, while Inari grinned.

"A friend of Naruto's is a friends of ours." The hostess of the house said. There was a moment of pause, before she remembered something. "Naruto-kun, a little more than three months ago your friend... What was her name... ah, yes, Kin, came here and stayed here for a night, before heading to Snow country." Naruto nodded.

"Thank you." He said with a small polite bow.

"Well, come in. I will make you some tea." The jinchuuriki duo thanked Tsunami and entered the house. Naruto led Yugito to the kitchen slash dining room. Once they were seated and, the dark-haired woman gave each of them a cup of green tea and sat on one of the free stools. "So, Naruto, how have you been? Father was quite worried when we heard about what happened in Konoha." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki frowned a little.

"I'm ...OK. Life deals me a blow; I stand up and continue walking. This time, though, I had to have some sense kicked into me to stand up." He ended with a little smile. "Speaking of Tazuna-san, where is he?"

"He's upstairs, sleeping. He just returned from Kaminari no kuni. He was working on a bridge there." Tsunami answered after taking a sip from her own cup.

"As in Tazuna the self-proclaimed 'super bridge builder'? The one who was building the bridge over the Three Dragons canyon?" Yugito asked in a bit surprised voice. The hostess nodded.

"Yes, something like that." For several moments there was silence. Then it was broken when Inari dragged his sleepy grandfather into the kitchen. "Inari, didn't I tell you to let you grandfather rest?" She scolded her son.

"But mom, we have such important guests!.." Tazuna himself rubbed his eyes and for a couple of seconds stared at the blond duo that sat at the kitchen table. Then he recognized Naruto.

"Ba! If it isn't the hero of the Wave, than I'm a girder!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki smiled.

"Nice to see you again, Tazuna-san." Said Naruto. There was a second-long pause, before he continued. "Yugito-chan, this is Tazuna, but you already know him as the super bridge builder. Tazuna-san, this is Yugito Nii, my very close friend." The bridge builder came closer to the female jinchuuriki and they had a little awkward hand shake. Then he picked himself a bottle of beer and – much to her dislike – sat next to his daughter, while Inari picked himself a place next to his blond hero.

* * *

Up until dinner Naruto and Tazuna were talking about what happened in Wave after team seven departed, Naruto told the bridge builder and his family about his other missions, at which point Yugito too could add her two cents, as she was left out most of the time in this conversation.

After a big and delicious dinner made by the cooking genius Tsunami, the jinchuuriki duo retired for the night. Naruto, who didn't want to sleep yet, found himself a nice spot on the roof of the house and lay there, watching the darkening skies where the first stars were appearing and the sickle of the Moon was rising above the trees... He then let his thoughts wander to his white-haired angel...

**flashback**

_The two teams sent to capture Sasuke from the clutches of the snake sannin stopped for the night two days away from the Orochimaru's current base near where they planned to make an ambush. Naruto got the first shift along with the 'sparrow' ANBU. Tsuki had the second... After his shift was done, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki told the white-haired kunoichi that it was her shift now and, seeing that the night was very warm, just lay against the tree and drifted to the land of dreams... Three hours later the weight settling next to him woke him up. Opening his eyes, he saw the white-haired girl very close to him, sitting against the same tree._

"_Tsuki-chan?" The blond shinobi asked in a whisper a little sleepily. The red-eyed kunoichi looked at him._

"_Naruto... I'm sorry, I woke you up." She said in a low whisper and edged a little closer to him. _

"_Please, go back to the sleep." Feeling that right now this would be appropriate, Naruto put his arm around her waist and she happily snuggled into his side...

* * *

_

_The morning found Naruto with Tsuki sleeping soundly against him with her head lying on his shoulder. Her peaceful face, along with her gorge__ous white hair made her look like an angel who came straight from the heaven... Too bad he had to wake her up... Much to the delight of a certain vixen in the seal, Naruto gently kissed the sleeping whitehead on her forehead... Tsuki-chan stirred a little, coming back from the land of dreams and, still not opening her eyes, snuggled closer to him._

"_Is it mornin'?__" She asked sleepily. "Don' wanna..." Then she yawned cutely. Naruto smiled at her antics. Who knew that his red-eyed angel was such a sleepy head?_

**end of the flashback**

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki felt someone sit on the roof next to him.

"Is something on your mind, Naruto-kun?" Yugito asked, as she wrapped her arms around her knees. "You seem to have a faraway look." The blond shinobi just sighed and continued looking at the Moon. "You're thinking about her, aren't you?" The female jinchuuriki observed. Naruto slowly nodded.

"Yes." He said barely above a whisper, while running Tsuki's ribbon between his fingers. Yugito lay back onto the roof next to him and turned her head to look at her fellow demon container.

"I know, it hurt you a lot, but you can't live in the past forever." Naruto smiled sadly.

"I know..." There was a long silence. Blushing a little, the blond kunoichi took his hand into hers, before breaking the silence.

"Naruto-kun..." She whispered, moving a little closer to him. "Let me stay here, next to you, tonight. God knows, you need some company right now." She blushed a deeper shade of red when he didn't answer her right away. Several long seconds later, though for Yugito they felt more like hours, Naruto simply nodded, and returned to watching the moon...

**~/ *** \~**

Tsunade sighed tiredly, writing yet another 'denied' across yet another petition from the council. Damn, she needed to make a stamp for this sort of things.

'_How could sensei tolerate those old fools?_' The Godaime Hokage asked herself. Ever since she forcefully retook her seat after returning from the fake diplomatic mission to Suna, the civilian part of the council became almost unbearable. Even Ibiki as her personal adviser didn't seem to scare them from trying to push ridiculous laws… and that Haruno girl. She was acting like she damn well owned the village when was given only an observer's seat – no longer a shinobi, she was a minor again. And she was given it _only_ because Tsunade needed to avoid a civilian war... The situation has improved by now, but the atmosphere in the village was still tense, especially with the damage the attempt of Naruto's execution and its aftermath did to the ninja forces and to the diplomatic relationships with Wave, Sand and Snow countries...

Sighing again, the female Hokage decided to give herself a break from these stupid papers and, opening the secret – from Shizune – drawer of her table she took out a bottle of fine sake from Bird country...

**~/ *** \~**

The next morning was started pleasant for Naruto, but quickly turned awkward and embarrassing as the Kyuubi jinchuuriki found out that he ended sleeping with his head on Yugito's stomach. The fact that she didn't seem to mind it much – she was already awake when he returned from the land of dreams – made the situation more difficult as the blond shinobi didn't know how to react...

During the breakfast the teens, mostly Naruto, though, couldn't look at each other without a blush creeping onto their faces, which didn't escape Tazuna and Tsunami, and two adults teased the ninja youths. This only led to even more awkwardness between Naruto and Yugito... But even with the teasing the adults generously provided, the incident on the roof was put out of demon containers' minds by the end of the day...

The jinchuuriki duo spent three more days at Tazuna's house, mostly relaxing under the warm sun of Wave country. In the evening of the third day, though, a messenger lizard from Kumo brought Yugito a scroll with her payment for her last mission and the instructions for her next one... So the blond kunoichi quickly gathered her gear and, after bidding farewell and thanking the hosts for their hospitality, left to do whatever the Raikage needed her to do...

Naruto spent two more days with Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari, before bidding them a farewell too and heading to the port on the eastern coasts of Wave country. Finding a ship that sailed to the Snow country was not a problem, as the said country depended on trading a lot. The captain of a large bark that conveyed several hundred tons of grain was even nice enough to allow Naruto a free ticket as long as the blond shinobi protected his ship from the pirate wannabes – after all, hiring an officially A-rank ninja for about a month for less than three thousand ryo was a _really_ good deal... Four weeks of completely eventless voyage later Naruto stepped onto the icy shores of Snow country...

* * *

From the port town Naruto headed straight to the Spring Mountains, where the princess' palace was located – after Koyuki-hime activated the generator hidden under the Rainbow glaciers, this part of the country had its climate changed from the eternal winter to a warm spring, thus changing the name of the mountains... As per his deeds for the country several months ago, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki had little problem in reaching the capital. But that is when the problems started...

"I would like to ask for an audience with the princess Koyuki." Naruto asked the receptionist in the booth next to the entrance of castle. Before the man could say anything, the samurai guard swung his sword at the cloaked blond's neck. On his ninja reflexes, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki jumped back, drawing his kunai in the process.

"Her majesty has no time for scum like you, missing-nin." The samurai barked, while continuing the attack. Naruto kept on the defensive: while the samurai had only just above mediocre training and could pose danger only to someone less than chuunin in skills, not a sage, starting an incident by killing or even just fighting him on offensive was not an option.

"That is not a good reason to try to kill me." Naruto stated, trying to keep what was left from his sage patience intact.

"You are a danger to society and will be eliminated!" The larger man continued pressing his attack, not bothering to notice that the blond shinobi was practically dancing around his sword, resorting to blocking it only on really rare occasions. The other samurai just continued their guarding duty: the cloaked stranger so far proved to have no hostile intentions towards the princess or the country, but helping him would mean that they turned their swords against a fellow samurai and thus the country, something punishable by execution... Naruto continued dodging the berserk samurai's attack for another minute, when the man suddenly fell on the ground unconscious. A quick glance down showed a senbon needle sticking from between armor plates on man's neck. This gave Naruto a pretty good idea who 'saved' him as he knew only one senbon user in the whole of Snow country – he sent her there himself, after all... His guess was quickly confirmed, when he saw a girl with long black hair rushing towards him with a clear intent to hug him to death.

"Naruto-sama!" The girl cried happily as she wrapped her arms around him. The blond shinobi barely managed not to lose his balance from the momentum she had. "I'm so happy that you are alright! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Kin-chan." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said, hugging her back. He could feel Kin's hands slowly travel down his back, but so far he let her do what she wanted...

"Kin-chan, I suggest you stop attempting to molest _my_ hero in front of me and on the main square," said Koyuki in a voice that was a strange mix between stern and playful. The kunoichi blushed and let Naruto free from her embrace.

"I'm sorry, mistress Koyuki." Kin said, doing a step back from the blond shinobi, allowing him to finally have a good look at her. She grew taller than he remembered her to be and – he cursed his inner pervert that both his godfather and Kyuubi were trying to develop – had her body develop into a very desirable one. Kin's hair was still as long, and was mostly the same, though some of it was made into two braids ending with bells. The dark-haired kunoichi was now wearing dark-blue with gold lined clothes that were equally fit for official ceremonies and battle.

'_**Mistress?**_' Naruto heard the demoness ask from her seal.

'_Pervy vixen._' He said back.

'_**Mmm... Kyuu-chan was a bad, bad girl. You need to punish your Kyuu-chan.**_' she purred seductively, but her container only sighed. For him it seemed that the vixen in the seal was developing a split personality: one time was going all seductress on him, other times, or before they could get too far, she was back to her old onee-chan mode... He just couldn't figure her out... As soon as he was 'freed' from Kin's embrace, the princess hugged Naruto herself, making sure to 'accidentally' press his face into her bosom.

"Naruto-sama... It's so nice to see you again!" Koyuki said while pushing the very embarrassed blond's head further into her bust.

"M-Maybe we should move into private quarters?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki asked weakly, but that was enough to make the princess release him. She thought about what he said for a second.

"Yeah, sure..." Then she turned to one of samurais. "...Toshin-san, please, take Rigin-san to the holding cells for attacking my guest. I'd like to have a talk with him personally." The samurai identified as Toshin nodded respectfully.

"As you wish your majesty," and he walked up to his downed comrade. Picking him up, Toshin carried Rigin somewhere into the sentries.

"Let's go, Naruto-sama." Koyuki said, and started walking back into her castle. Naruto and Kin followed closely behind her...

* * *

Once they were in more private settings, princess Koyuki proceeded to show Naruto how much she missed him, leaving the blond blushing and with the giggling Kyuubi in the seal. Kin gave the blond jinchuuriki another hug, before the trio started discussing the happenings of the last few months... Naruto was thanked by Koyuki for sending her such a wonderful personal bodyguard and attendant, while the dark-haired kunoichi thanked him for saving her from Konoha. Both women also expressed their condolences when they learned about the death of Naruto's angel...

* * *

Considering the duration of Yugito's mission, and the desires of Kin and her 'mistress' to have him around, Naruto decided to spend about a week in the Snow country, before heading back to Claw country on the main continent where he will reunite with his fellow jinchuuriki.

**~/ *** \~**

Five ninja sat around a campfire in the woods of northern Fire country. Four of them look like they just returned from the most difficult and tiring training in their lives.

"Why couldn't we stick to the previous plan, master?" One of those four complained. "You will kill us before we make our move, if we continue like this, master..." The fifth ninja shut him up by releasing some of his killing intent, while looking straight into the complainer's eyes.

"Right now Konoha is still recovering from the 'three hour war'. If we attack this month, it's not likely that they will be able to send a powerful team fast enough to stop us from obtaining the jutsu. Would you rather laze around now and fight a cell of their ANBU later?" The complainer, as well as the other three shook their heads. "Then stop whining!" The 'commander' of this small group almost yelled. "We will attack in four weeks."

* * *

That's all folks! Leave me a **review**!


	21. Bubbles

Hello, everyone, I'm back! Sorry for being silent for so long, but several things (including actually starting to write my diploma) took the first priority. Anyway, I'm here, and with the newest chapter of the "_**Konoha's youg sage**_". Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**GoldenGod Rah**, I will show how Koyuki 'thanked' Naruto in a chapter or two. =) As for our favorite blond fighting Konoha ninjas... I will happen eventually, but so far he hadn't crossed his path with any.  
**fanficreader71**, **Trooper0007**, **eclipseX**, **nobother**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**,** c im am a dragon**, **danfrogger**, **sh8ad8ow**, **god of all**, **interlock**, **nicklaren**, thank you, folks!  
**Skelo**, if you want 'heated things', wait for the flashback (most probably in the next chapter). As for the confusing ending... this chapter should clear it. And create another confusing ending. Don't be angry at me for this - I needed to create a starting point for the four chapter long arc.** ogihcI ikasoruK**, the last part should answer your review too.  
**Naginator**, there are always missions that must be done alone. Yugito just got one such mission.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, those mysterious shinobi (un)fortunately have nothing to do with Konoha directly. As for Koyuki and Naruto, like I said to **Skelo**, expect some citrus in a flashback soon.**  
Doragonclaw**, fluff was a temporary thing... as for the rushed plot... there are no excuses I can come up with.  
**Pabloski33**, thanks, man! For the pairing... Like I said some chapters ago, Naruto will be with Kyuubi in his mind and with Yugito in reality. Fuu will share herself between him and Deidara (he will join the group rather soon).**  
Reishin Amara**, updated as soon as I could.  
**Rixxell Stryfe**, thanks. I'm not sure if they will be crossovers, but there will be more filler chapters. No questions there.  
**Elemental Dragon Swordman**, there was a part of the 'greeting' not shown yet. ^_^  
**Wonijs**, um... thank you?

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Yonten ninjutsu: Kaminari no kou - **(unknown rank) Four point ninja arts: lightning flash - A power discharge that can cause quite a damage to the target. If it hits it. The jutsu can be done only by a group of four ninjas.  
**Yonten ninjutsu: doton: hari - **(unknown rank) Four point ninja arts: earth style: needles - Raises thousands of stone needles. This jutsu can be done only by a group of four ninjas.  
Awaton: awabakuha - (secret technique) Bubble style: exploding bubbles - Creates a swarm of bubbles that can be directed towards the target. The bubbles will explode upon contacting a solid object, or upon their creator's command.  
**Yonten ninjutsu: bouei heki **- (unknown rank) Four point ninja arts: defensive wall - Like the jutsu name says, it creates an earthen wall. This jutsu can be done only by a group of four.  
**Yonten ninjutsu: jingenkotsu** - (unknown rank) Four point ninja arts: god's fist - Powerful gust of wind.  
**Fuuton: Reppushou** - (C-rank) Wind style: gale wind palm - Strong gust of wind sent towards his target. When acting in conjunction with another thrown weapon, the wind can increase its power and deadliness.**  
Yonten ninjutsu: otoshi no osu!**" - (unknown rank) Four point ninja arts: pressure trap - Places the target in a zone of increased air pressure. Can be done only be a group of four ninjas.  
**Doton: Doryuudan** - (unknown rank. must be B or A) Earth style: earth dragon projectile - using chakra, user creates dragon head from mud. Dragon head will shoot mud balls at its target.  
**Kage bunshin** - (A-rank) Shadow clone - creates solid chakra-made copy of user (to be destroyed shadow clone must get moderate damage). Shadow clones have perfect copy of user's mind and memory. When dispelled, shadow clones return experience of their 'life' to user. Shadow clones split user's chakra by clones number +1 (if you create 3 clones you'll have only 1/4 of chakra left (minus chakra needed to create clones)) that's why they are mostly used for information gathering.  
**Kuchiyose no jutsu** - (A-rank) Summoning - Time-space ninjutsu that summons object/animal (requires signed contract with that type of animals) to user's location  
**Doton: keisei** - (B-rank) Earth style: formation - jutsu of my own creation. Allows user to modify earth in a small area at his will. User need to stand on the ground to do this jutsu.  
**Fuuton: Kaze no yaiba** - (A-rank) Wind style: Sword of wind - Cutting wind.  
**Jibakujutsu: zan** - (unknown rank) Character binding technique: cut - Creates wind blades.**  
Mugen houyou** - (unknown rank) Infinite embrace - Surrounds the target with a special field. The target will find himself/herself under incredible pressure. only a sage or a jinchuuriki can successfully overpower this jutsu.**  
Jibakujutsu: iwa - **(unknown rank) Character binding technique: stone - Paralyzes the target. Useless against a sage. Can be overpowered by a jinchuuriki.**  
Tsuchigum****o****-ryū: ****k****inseijutsu ****k****aihō: ****t****enchi ****k****aibyaku!**" - (clan jutsu) Tsuchigumo Style: Forbidden Life Technique Release: Creation of Heaven and Earth - Otherwise know as 'the fury'. Actually, this is a senpou jutsu that first gathers a lot of natural energy, before unleashing it in a form of a spherical shockwave.  
**Jibakujutsu: ayatsuru -** (unknown rank) Character binding technique: control - Allows user to control the target. Can be overpowered be a sage, though.**  
Jibakujutsu: baku - **(unknown rank) Character binding technique: explode - Creates a character that is 'thrown' forward and explodes upon touching something solid.**  
jibakujutsu: en** - (unknown rank) Character binding technique: flame - Creates a wall of fire in front of the user.  
**Rasengan **- (A-rank) Spiral sphere - Rasengan is a tight ball of compressed fast-rotating chakra (or yoki) that does tremendous drilling damage.  
**Fu****uton: rasengan**– (S-rank) Wind style: spilar sphere - A rasengan infused with the wind element. Increased power over the original.  
**Shunshin** - (D-rank) Body flicker - 'Teleportation' jutsu

*** Some statistics for the first 20 chapters**:  
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this story is listed in 48 communities.

Thank you for reading my story, folks!

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
Messages  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

**_

* * *

_**Special thanks to _**CloudBloodBane **_for beta-reading this chapter!

* * *

**Konoha's young sage  
chapter 18: Bubbles**

It was close to sunset and Naruto, who was running through the fields of the northern Fire country, decided that it was time for a night stop. Unfortunately, there were barely any bushes around, much less a forest, to make a camp. Sighing, the blond sage continued running... Fifteen minutes later, his eyes caught the form of large cylindrical rock with some trees on the top a couple of kilometers to the west, not far from where several small mountains were. From his time as a Konoha shinobi the Kyuubi jinchuuriki remembered that this was the Tsuchigumo clan's outpost. While the clan was more or less allied with the Hidden Leaf, there were very independent and unless he caused trouble for them, they would tolerate him there, especially for just one night. So the blond headed there... An hour later, the blond shinobi finally reached the rock and was about to start ascending towards the top of it, when a young laid-back man dressed in a blue kimono with long black hair appeared in front of him.

"Halt, stranger. State your business here." The man said, drawing a tube out of a bottle on his belt. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki narrowed his eyes a bit as he studied the kimono-wearing man. He was, no doubt, powerful, even with his ...strange choice of weapon, but there was something off about him, like he had yoki – jinchuuriki? - but was actively suppressing, instead of allowing it to flow naturally through his chakra system like all of the demon containers Naruto had met did. Deciding that this was not of immediate importance, the blond shinobi answered.

"I wish to stay there for a night." The man lowered his 'weapon' a little, and continued studying Naruto.

"State your name then." He ordered.

"Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki replied. The kimono-wearing man seemed to recognize his name as his eyes widened a little for a moment.

"Konoha missing-nin?" Naruto nodded hesitantly. The man nodded back. "It's your luck, I don't care about politics. Just don't do anything against this place or its inhabitants and I won't have to kill you..." A pause.

"But may I inquire about the reason you went nuke-nin?" As it was more likely than not that the man in front of him was another jinchuuriki – but one who tried to hide the fact – Naruto reasoned that giving him the answer would not hurt.

"I didn't want to be executed for surviving a mission that was meant to be a suicide for me and while fleeing I uncovered several dirty secrets of a man in power there." The kimono-wearing man nodded.

"I see... Very well, I see no reason to deny you lodging for tonight." The two men started walking up the spiral path towards the top of the stone 'column' the outpost was located on. "By the way, I'm Utakata." Naruto nodded to himself: his guess was correct, this man was a jinchuuriki, the jinchuuriki of the six-tails to be exact – he knew as much from the info Jiraiya's spy network has gathered throughout the years.

"It's nice to meet you, number six." Utakata froze. Feeling his uneasiness, the blond shinobi immediately reassured him. "Don't worry; I'm number nine, my brethren." The kimono-wearing man nodded and they continued walking.

"So you are the jailer of the Kyuubi no Yoko?" Utakata asked.

"I prefer the term 'partner' as we are more symbiotic towards each other, but yes." Naruto replied.

* * *

On the top of the large rock column there was a rather big house, a stall, small forest with a pond next to it and a bit of a kitchen garden. Utakata calmly led Naruto towards the house. He told the blond to wait outside, while entering himself... Through his enhanced hearing, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki could hear his fellow bijuu container talking to an old man, the owner of the property, most likely. A couple of minutes later, the door slid open, revealing Utakata and an elderly man.

"Good evening, young man." the man said. "Do come in." Nodding, Naruto entered the house. It was clean and seemed somewhat empty as there was little furniture present there. "Utakata-dono says that you want to spend a night there... I trust his judgment, so, welcome. I'm Tonbee, the keeper of this house."

"Nice to meet you, Tonbee-san." the Kyuubi jinchuuriki said. "I'm Naruto." He decided not to reveal either of his last names. The elderly man nodded.

"Likewise, Naruto-san... Would you like some fish for dinner? It's still hot." The blond shinobi shook his head. He didn't want to impose. That and he had eaten a ration a couple of hours ago and wasn't hungry.

"Thank you for the offer, but no. I just ask for a place to sleep. For a lone traveler, sleeping out there in the middle of the field isn't the safest." Tonbee nodded.

"Of course, of course... Utakata-dono, please show Naruto-san to the spare bedroom." The six-tailed slug jinchuuriki nodded and motioned Naruto to follow him upstairs. They went past a pair of paper doors on the right side of the corridor, before stopping at the third.

"This will be your room for tonight, Naruto-dono." Utakata said rather emotionlessly, as he opened the door. The room wasn't big and had an empty wardrobe, an old table with equally old chair next to it and a rather big futon next to window, the one that happened to be opposite the door. "If you need anything, I'm live in the next room, though I will most likely be outdoors tonight. Tonbee-san sleeps downstairs." Naruto nodded.

"Thank you, Utakata-dono." The six-tailed slug jinchuuriki nodded and walked away, leaving the blond demon container alone in the room...

* * *

Naruto slept well that night, through some kind of a six sense most experienced ninja possessed woke him up a little before the daybreak. Shrugging, the blond shinobi packed and, after his morning rituals, walked out of the house. He quickly found Utakata sitting under a large tree and absentmindedly blowing bubbles from the pipe he had seen yesterday. Feeling his fellow jinchuuriki's presence, Utakata turned to face Naruto.

"Can't sleep either?" The dark-haired man asked offhandedly. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki nodded.

"Yeah, I have a feeling that something bad may happen this morning..." Utakata shrugged and continued playing with bubbles as Naruto sat on the ground not far from him and watched the sky turn pink in the east...

For about half an hour, it was quiet, bar the chirping of the early birds. Then the peaceful silence of an early morning was broken by an explosion about quarter a mile away. Both jinchuuriki immediately sprang to their feet and got ready to fight whoever was going to attack the house Utakata because it was more or less his duty and Naruto because he felt that he owed Tonbee something for letting him stay there for the night. The two jinchuuriki quickly ran down the rock column, appearing in front of the entry point of the road up just before four ninja without any hitae-ate could enter it.

"What do we have here, guys? Two clowns who think they can stop us." A girlish boy said loudly; trying to irritate the jinchuuriki into acting foolishly. Unfortunately for him, both demon containers remained calm and collected.

"Benten..." A big ninja said to his comrade. "Don't underestimate them just because their clothes aren't as fashionable as yours." Benten snorted.

"As if they are a match for us. Let's just deal with them and get the jutsu." The last bit made Utakata show a sign of an emotion. Determination to protect whatever that jutsu was.

"I can't allow you to do that." The six-tails jinchuuriki stated coldly. His response from the four was them going through a set of strange handseals.

"**Yonten ninjutsu: Kaminari no kou!**" Pale blue beams of electricity rose from the four ninjas' hands, connecting above them. Moments later a powerful lightning bolt exploded towards the two jinchuuriki. Naruto and Utakata barely dodged it, and an unpleasant sound of a crushed rock informed them that they were lucky they managed to evade the lightning. As soon as the four saw that they missed, they all shifted to a different handseal. "**Yonten ninjutsu: doton: hari!**" Thousands of stone needles sprang from under the ground, but both jinchuuriki again had evaded the attack.

"Damn. They are powerful!" Utakata observed, dodging another lightning flash. Naruto shook his head.

"Not exactly." Seeing the other jinchuuriki's confused face, the blond shinobi elaborated. "Yes, their jutsu are powerful, but all four of our attackers need to work simultaneously on them. Take one down and they will lose this power." This time Utakata nodded.

"I see." He drew his pipe. "**Awaton: awabakuha!**" The six-tails jinchuuriki blew out a swarm of bubbles that flew towards the attackers. The four flashed through another set of handseals.

"**Yonten ninjutsu: bouei heki!**" They were instantly surrounded by a bluish bubble of chakra... The moment Utakata's bubbles touched it they exploded, but couldn't deal any damage to the seemingly impenetrable wall. When all of the explosive bubbles were gone, the four attackers let their defensive barrier dissipate, before switching to another handseal. "**Yonten ninjutsu: jingenkotsu!**" The jutsu created a very powerful gust of wind that threw the two jinchuuriki against the rocks, temporary taking Utakata out of the fight, as he was a bit unlucky and hit his head against a boulder.

"One down! I knew they are no match against people as handsome as us!" Benten bragged. But he was shut up a moment later by a **fuuton: reppushou** that flew by, almost hitting his face.

"...Said a guy who looks like a girl." Naruto commented, making Benten boil with anger.

"Kill this annoying shit!" He ordered to his comrades. They all did yet another sequence of handseals.

"**Yonten ninjutsu: otoshi no osu!**" Immediately, the blond jinchuuriki felt like a ton of bricks fell onto his shoulders, forcing him to sink onto the ground and trying to flatten him to death there.

'_Damn!_' The Kyuubi jinchuuriki swore in his mind. He needed to break this jutsu, but his normal power wasn't enough. And he for sure didn't want to use Kyuubi's yoki – there was no need for those four to know what he was... That left him with a sage mode. Thankfully, in his current condition, four seconds without moving wasn't a problem... As soon as he entered the sage mode, Naruto threw the jutsu off him with ease that left the four attackers shocked.

"W-What are you?" asked the three un-named attackers. The blond shinobi glared at him.

"You do not need to know this." While he was saying it, he was also going through a set of handseals.

"**Doton: doryuudan!**" A large dragon head rose from the ground and started spitting mud projectiles towards the four ninja, who jumped to the sides, trying to avoid being hit. Unfortunately for them, Utakata chose this time to return to the fight, sending more explosive bubbles after his enemies. As they were too far apart from each other, thanks to Naruto's dragon, they couldn't use their four point ninjutsu and had to resort to dodging... and they weren't exactly good at it, as one of them got hit with an explosive bubble soon and was knocked out. Seeing their comrade down, the other three retreated...

"What should we do with this one?" Naruto asked, canceling his sage mode. "I say we interrogate him. They said that they were after something, but there was no information about their plans, numbers or anything like that for you to create defense against." Utakata nodded and tied the unconscious man with some ninja wire.

**~/ *** \~**

A man in dark-blue over-clothes was standing on the edge of the forest when three of his minions landed in front of him. The man waited for several seconds, just in case his forth minion was lagging. But it seemed, it was not the case, as the thin one with a big shuriken on his back, Chuushin, said:

"Shiranami-sama... We faced another ninja protecting the jutsu, other than that kimono wearing weirdo, and they were able to oppose us effectively. They took down Nango and we had to retreat..." The speaker couldn't finish as he was shut up by Shiranami's fist connecting with his face.

"Idiots! You all are brainless idiots! How could you lose to that pathetic bubble-headed freak and a weakling that no one has ever heard of?" The man yelled... Then he sighed. "They are right. If you want something done right, do it yourself..." Shiranami glared at the three minions. "Get ready; we will attack the outpost in three hours."

"Hai!" Benten, Chuushin and Akaboshi chorused. Shiranami just sighed and walked away. He had a lot to do to prepare for the attack, after all...

**~/ *** \~**

"So... What did you learn from him, Utakata-dono?" Tonbee asked as soon as the six-tails jinchuuriki stepped out of the room they help the captured nin in. The kimono-wearing man shook his head.

"He is a hard one to crack... All that we learned is that they work for someone named Shiranami and they were tasked with acquiring _the jutsu_ for him..." As soon as Utakata mentioned the jutsu, there was a yelp and then someone rushed away. "Hotaru-sama!" The six-tails jinchuuriki cried and rushed after the eavesdropper.

"Damn... I need to pay more attention to my surroundings." Sighed Naruto: he didn't even know they were eavesdropped till Hotaru – the granddaughter of the previous Tsuchigumo clan leader – yelped and ran away. "**Kage bunshin!**" He whispered as he summoned a couple of shadow clones to guard the man they captured, and ran after Hotaru and Utakata.

* * *

Finding a girl with barely any shinobi training and a jinchuuriki on a rock that was just a couple of hectares away was an easy task. He, actually, found them under the tree next to edge of the cliff. Hotaru was sitting against the said tree, hugging her knees, while Utakata stood above her in his usual emotionless self, not really helping her with the situation.

"Number six, if you are trying to help, then don't just stand there." Naruto commented, making the Rokubi jinchuuriki growl a little. "Hotaru-san, I might not be the right person to tell you this as I am just a stranger passing by... But don't worry; those ninja will not harm you. We will not let them." Utakata glared at his fellow demon container for a moment, but nodded. "Anyway..." The blond missing-nin continued. "We should head back to the house, Hotaru-san, I'm sure, Tonbee-san is worried about you – you just ran out of the house after all..." But no sooner than he had said this, the old man in question exited the house and started walking towards them. "Oh, well..."

"Seeing that we're all here, we need to decide our course of actions regarding the threat." Utakata said. "Hotaru-sama must be protected." The girl looked up at him, but said nothing.

"We must move Hotaru-sama to the Tsuchigumo clan village." Tonbee said. The six-tails jinchuuriki was about to agree with him, when Naruto spoke:

"That would not be the wisest course of action. Right now we are at the strategically best height with only one widely know route to it. It is much easier to defend, than protecting a person while on the plains and in the forests, where there is a good chance of an ambush." All three of the outpost inhabitants looked at the blond with a varying degree of surprise written on their faces. After several seconds of silence, though, Utakata nodded.

"I have to say, Naruto-dono is correct. Here we have a territorial advantage over our enemies that we will lose should we leave." Tonbee looked at the Rokubi jinchuuriki.

"If you say so, Utakata-dono..." The old man made a pause before continuing. "I think, we should have some lunch now. My gut is telling me that those who were after the jutsu will be back before the sun sets." Two jinchuuriki just nodded and followed Tonbee back into the house, Hotaru tailing them closely behind...

"Say, Tonbee-san..." Naruto asked rather nervously. "If I help you defend the outpost, will you let me not pay for the room for the last night? I'm a bit short on the money and..." The old man chuckled as the group entered the house.

"Of course... Your help, especially at a time like this, is much more valuable than a room for the night... Actually, I didn't intend to ask money from you anyway." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki just smiled sheepishly in response

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto was standing on guard down at the beginning of the slope that led to the outpost. He wasn't trusted enough to be up there, but he didn't really care... Suddenly the Kyuubi jinchuuriki saw something that neither he, nor Utakata or Tonbee expected: instead of a small group of ninjas, an 'army' of civilians – or low level Tsuchigumo clan members – was approaching the outpost, torches and pitchforks and hoes in their hands, this immediately put Naruto on his guard – more likely than not, this was just a distraction. Biting his finger to draw some blood, the blond shinobi quickly ran through four handseals, before slamming his hand onto the ground.

"**Kuchiyose no jutsu!**" In a cloud of white smoke the orange toad Gamakichi appeared.

"Yo, Naruto! What do you need me to do? And do I get a candy?" Naruto chuckled at his summons's antics, but dug into a pocket of his cloak and gave the toad a big candy, which was immediately eaten.

"Now, what's my mission, boss?"

"I need you to go up this road and tell the old man or the man in blue kimono that there might be an attack from the rear." Gamakichi nodded and started leaping towards his 'target'... After the little toad disappeared behind the rocks, Naruto prepared himself for the fight: even for a sage and a jinchuuriki, fighting this many opponents, especially without killing any of them – at least for now – is not easy by any means... But as the 'army' got closer, Naruto noticed something – the eyes of the people were not focused, and they all had a kanji for 'manipulate' on different parts of their bodies. These people mere mind-controlled! While he now needed to stop them not only without killing, but without harming them too, the task was, actually, a bit easier now: as the people were mind-controlled, they were mindless dolls now that could be captured with the simplest trap... Naruto closed his eyes...

* * *

Soon, 'the crowd' was there, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki could feel them, as he stayed a hairline away from activating his sage mode. Once the Tsuchigumo people were close enough, he entered the mode and, opening his now toad-like eyes, flashed through handseals.

"**Doton: keisei!**" He said in a barely audible voice as he pressed his hands to the ground. Immediately, stone walls rose, surrounding the mind-controlled people... This done, Naruto scanned the territory of the outpost with his enhanced senses of the sage mode. He could feel Tonbee and Utakata. And he got a strange reading from Hotaru. It was like there was a seal on her back that responded to the natural energy... Continuing his scanning, the blond jinchuuriki felt four presences going up to the outpost using a small tunnel in the rock... So, this was the main attack. Naruto shifted his senses to the crowd he had captured. The mind-controlled people were just stupidly walking inside the walls, without doing any attempts to free themselves... Deciding they were no danger at the moment, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki ran up the road to the outpost: more likely than not, his help will be needed there...

* * *

By the time the blond sage reached the outpost, the four attackers were already there too, three of them Naruto and Utakata had met before were going for the main house where their comrade was held. The forth attacker, obviously the leader, was buying them time by keeping the Rokubi jinchuuriki occupied with his strange jutsu that consisted of him drawing a symbol and making it fly towards the target, where it created an explosion...

Seeing his brethren in such a position, Naruto immediately opted to help him, instead of going after the trio of sidekicks to the attacker – after all, his two shadow clones that guarding the captive could put up a good fight. And so the Kyuubi jinchuuriki sent three **fuuton: kaze no yaiba** in quick succession, forcing Shiranami to split his attention between him and Utakata.

"So there really is another ninja there." The man sneered. "I guess this is why the mob is not here yet." He made sure to study Hotaru's horrified expression for several seconds, before continuing. "Guess, I'll have to deal with you first. **Jibakujutsu: zan!**" Naruto barely had any time to avoid the incoming wind blades, but he wasn't a sage of mt. myoboku for nothing and not even his clothes were damaged. At the same time Utakata counterattacked the man with exploding bubbles. Seeing this as his chance to land a good hit on Shiranami and end this part of the fight, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki flashed through handseals.

"**Doton: doryuudan!**" The stone dragon head rose from the ground and started spitting mud bullets. Immediately, the blond missing-nin did another handseal sequence. "**Fuuton: reppushou!**" Two gusts of wind flew on the each side form the dragon's projectiles, making avoiding the attack much more difficult. But Shiranami still somehow managed to escape... At the same time Naruto felt the memories of his clones entering his mind, meaning they were destroyed. At least, out of four in the 'sidekick' group, now only two were in any condition for fighting... Shiranami, noticing that Naruto was momentary distracted and Utakata was only getting ready to fire another valley of bubbles at him, charged at the Rokubi jinchuuriki and as soon as he was next to him, slammed his left hand on the ground, while holding his right in a handseal.

"**Mugen houyou!**" A pillar of purplish light surrounded Utakata, making him let out a strange sound and sink on his knees like he was suddenly under the effects of drastically increased gravity... Through the use of what little energies of his fading sage mode he had left Naruto studied this jutsu, finding it to be some kind of a barrier technique that absorbed chakra... But by studying the technique, the young sage made a mistake of diverting his attention from the battlefield and got surrounded by the two remaining ninja of the four that attacked the outpost in the early morning.

"We will make you pay, blondie!" Thin man with a shuriken on his back hissed as he and his comrade did several handseals, before placing their hands on the ground.

"**Mugen houyou!**" Naruto immediately cursed himself for not paying better attention to what was happening around him, as the jutsu started applying great pressure to him, so much that he barely could stand up straight. And with his chakra being sucked away, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki knew that entering the sage mode will take about thirty seconds instead of normal four... He didn't want to use yoki of his demoness just yet... Closing his eyes, Naruto started gathering natural energy.

"Now that little problem is dealt with for now... let's finish with you so that I can start conquering the world." Shiranami said, releasing the jutsu. It already was almost broken by Utakata, who was leaking yoki, anyway. As quickly as possible, the man drew a kanji in the air. "**Jibakujutsu: iwa**", and sent it towards the Rokubi jinchuuriki, halting his progress for a moment. Several more paralyzing marks later, Utakata was more or less out of the battle for now and another one for Tonbee so that the old man will not interfere.

"Now... let's collect what is mine." Shiranami drew a kanji for 'control' and sent it towards Hotaru who could not dodge it, even with her limited ninja training. Her eyes became empty and wide open, showing clearly that the girl was under the effect of a mind control. "Come here, my dear. It's time for me to acquire _the fury_."

"Mm." Hotaru slowly walked towards the man and stopped right in front of him. Shiranami walked around her, loosening her clothes to better access the scroll sealed into her back.

"For a tool you certainly do have a nice body. It might use you for more than the battle." Simultaneous growls coming Tonbee and Utakata only made Shiranami chuckle to himself. "Now then, let these poor souls be witnesses to my first step of world domination, witnesses to the rebirth of the power of En no Gyouya!" He performed a long sequence of handseals. "**Tsuchigum****o****-ryū: ****k****inseijutsu ****k****aihō: ****t****enchi ****k****aibyaku!**" Shiranami said, placing his hand on Hotaru's back. Moment later seals spread out of the scroll sealed there and covered the girl's body, flowing down towards the ground, where a large circular seal in glowing red symbols appeared...

"Grr..." Utakata growled, releasing more than a tail worth of yoki, but the paralyzing seals on him held him immobile. Naruto, on the other hand, was calm as needed to finish gathering the natural energy for reactivating his sage mode. He could already feel the scroll in Hotaru's back gathering natural energy for the jutsu, but his sage mode wasn't powerful enough to overpower the binding jutsu held on him yet... Finally, two seconds later, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki had finished gathering the natural energy and broke the **mugen houyou** with the mighty wave of sage chakra he released.

"Sorry, but your ascension to power will not happen today." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki stated, as he started walking towards Shiranami, all the while thinking about the way to abort the jutsu. The duo of man's supporters tried to attack Naruto from behind, but the blond sage quickly rendered them unconscious with powerful elbow strikes to their chests. The man himself, seeing the ease Naruto had defeated his minions, started attacking the blond himself, hoping to halt his progress for enough for the jutsu to charge.

"**Jibakujutsu: ayatsuru!**" Upon the kanji coming in contact with him, Naruto stop for a moment, but then shrugged the effect of the jutsu and continued advancing towards Shiranami. "**Jibakujutsu: iwa!**" ...Paralyzing move had nearly the same effect on the blond sage. "**Jibakujutsu: baku!**" The young jinchuuriki didn't even bother doing anything as the jutsu was unable to harm him in his sage mode at all... In his last attempt to stop him, Shiranami created a firewall using **jibakujutsu: en** technique, but the sage mode made Naruto immune to such weak flames... Penetrating his opponent's defenses, the blond sage punched the man, making him fly several meters away and land roughly on his back. Unfortunately, this didn't break his jutsu. And...

'Damn!' The Kyuubi jinchuuriki swore as he could see the scroll continue gathering natural energy for _the fury_. '_This thing doesn't even need a caster to stay in contact with it... Whoever sealed the jutsu into the scroll was good... But this way only the caster can cancel the technique... Or the destruction of the medium... I'm sorry, Hotaru, it seems that the legacy of your grandfather will perish today..._'

"Fool. Nothing can stop _the fury_ now!" Shiranami laughed. "You all shall feel the power that will conquer the world for me." Naruto, though, barely paid him any attention as he was trying to find a way to remove the scroll from Hotaru's back to destroy it. Normally he would have analyzed the seal, but right now he had no time for such thing. He needed another way to do that...

'_The scroll works on the natural energy... Wait a second. It must be so that the one who can control the energies of nature would be able to unseal the scroll... At least I hope so..._' Concentrating the powers of his sage mode in his left hand, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki placed it above the scroll. He immediately felt the damn thing leeching his sage chakra away... '_I'm sorry, Hotaru, this might hurt..._' Pushing more natural energy into his arm, he pulled the scroll out of the girl's body... The moment the scroll left the seal, the 'hole' in Hotaru's back sealed itself like it had never been there, while the girl herself let out a silent cry, before falling on the ground... But Naruto had more pressing matters ...well... in his hands, so he only followed Hotaru's fall with his eyes to be sure that she was OK in the end... Then the blond sage returned his attention to the scroll. It was already beginning to glow, meaning that it was almost ready to unleash the power sealed within it. With so little time left and a great need of a very powerful but pinpoint attack, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki decided that it was the time to see what his newest technique was capable of... In his free right hand he formed **rasengan**, before changing chakra's properties in it to those of a wind, changing the blue ball of chakra into a white one with four small blades protruding from it. "**Fuuton: rasengan!**" Naruto cried out as he tossed the scroll into the air, before slamming the wind **rasengan** into it... For a couple of moments the scroll tried to absorb the attack, but in the end the seals in it gave in, and the winds tore the scroll into billions of tiny pieces...

"No!" Shiranami screamed, seeing his key to the world dominance being destroyed... Then he saw the blond man that became the unbreakable wall on his path to greatness slowly approach him.

"Now that this damn thing is no longer there, we shall talk." Naruto stated in a really cold voice...

**~/ *** \~**

Hotaru felt herself returning to the warm morning sunlight. She felt a little sore, especially her back, but at the same time she felt... good, light and... free. Like something that was inhibiting her being for years was gone.

"Good morning, Hotaru-sama." She heard Utakata greeting her in his usual, nearly emotionless, voice. Opening her eyes, the girl saw the Rokubi jinchuuriki and her 'sensei' sitting next to her bed and Naruto was leaning against the wall in the corner of the room.

"You gave us quite a worry, Hotaru-san." The blond missing-nin said. "You were out for two and a half days." Ignoring her surprised face, he continued. "But... How are you? Hope, you aren't too sore?" The girl blinked.

"Well... I'm... OK." She answered finally. "What happened to me?" Naruto stood up and walked up to her bed.

"I'm really sorry to say this, but your current condition is the result of me destroying the jutsu." Hotaru raised her eyebrow, not really understanding what it had to do with her. "The scroll with the jutsu was sealed in your back and I had to forcefully remove it... I'm sorry, but I had to destroy your grandfather's legacy." Hotaru seemed to space out into her thoughts for, what felt like several minutes, before speaking.

"Y-You are forgiven, Naruto-san. You did it to protect us..." She said in a sad voice. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki sat down on the second chair and placed his hand on hers.

"The scroll with the jutsu might have been destroyed, but the jutsu itself is not dead... Even without seeing it unleashed I was able to analyze it to some degree..." With his free hand, Naruto placed two scrolls on her bedside table. "In these scrolls you will find my ideas about what _the fury_ was, and training for you to be able to recreate it. Just don't do the training alone at first..." Hotaru smiled a little and nodded. "Unfortunately..." Naruto continued. "...Because of the events that transpired there, I had to stay for another two days... Utakata-dono can fill you in about them... And I really need to go now... Be yourself, Hotaru-san, and make your grandfather proud for you are his granddaughter." With those words the blond sage disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

"He was really in a hurry when he left several hours ago. But he still left a clone behind to tell you this ...in person, Hotaru-sama." The Rokubi jinchuuriki said. "But he is right. You are his blood. I shall believe, you can do what you want for your clan." Hotaru just nodded as her eyes were already filling with the tears of happiness...

**~/ *** \~**

In a large cave a group of people held a meeting. All of them wore cloaks with hoods, so one couldn't see their faces... or any details about them, other than their height.

"...Leader-sama..." A rather small and slightly feminine figure not far from the center of the group spoke when it was her turn. "Our Intel group in northern Hi no Kuni has spotted a man that fits the description of one of the demon containers there." The large figure in the center of the 'meeting hall' turned its head to look at the speaker.

"I do hope that it is not her?" It asked. The first figure shook its head.

"No, we had spotted another one and if our estimations are correct, he will be in the Tanizai city by the end of this week."

"Good." The 'leader' said after a small pause. "Are you able to capture him?" The speaker nodded.

"From the data we have, this one is an honorable person, even if he is rather strong, so, I believe, capturing him will not be hard. You shall have him brought there for the transfer within seven days, Leader-sama." The 'leader' nodded.

"Very good," here he made a pause. "Do not fail to acquire the power of the demon for our organization this time, or there will be consequences." The 'leader' paused again, watching the scared forms of his men in front of him.

"Dismissed." He said finally. The cave immediately was filled with whirlwinds as several dozens of ninja **shunshin**'ed away from it, leaving the 'leader' alone in it. "With the power of the demons in me, I shall become the God for the sheep that live on the continent. I will become the king of the world!" And he laughed insanely, before leaving the cave too...

**~/ *** \~**

Itachi walked out of the clearing, wiping the blood from his blade, Kisame's head, his ring and the Samehada sealed in the scroll in his pouch. The Uchiha's Akatsuki garb lay discarded behind him, next to the headless body of the 'Monster of the Hidden Mist'... Deciding that his tanto was clean enough, Itachi sheathed it, as he continued on his was; his mind wandering to what led to the day's events...

**flashback (37 days ago)**

_ The Akatsuki were standing on their usual positions on the fingers of the heretical demon king statue, listening to Zetsu's report about him searching for the Yonbi jinchuuriki's hideout. The plant man actually managed to find it, but he had suspicions that he himself too was found, and Roushi might be changing his location right now._

"_...And that is all about four tails." The white half finished._

"_**But we came across another interesting piece of information while on this mission.**__" The black half added in a mechanical voice. "__**It seems that while we were looking for the four tails, the nine tails deserted Konoha and is a missing-nin now.**__"_

"_His current location is unknown for us, but we shall be searching for him." The white one continued. "He shall not escape our eyes..." Zetsu continued speaking, but Itachi was no longer listening to him. With Naruto gone from Konoha, his mission of infiltrating the organization for the sake of the village was over. He just needed to wait for the right time to leave..._

**The**** end of the flashback**

Itachi sighed to himself. He was free now. And from the information that reached his ears, he was disappointed in his little brother. Sasuke was no longer a good choice to restore the clan to its former glory, for he betrayed the village just for power...

'_Well, if you want to do something right, do it yourself._' Itachi thought... With the bounty on Kisame he could collect, there might be no monetary issues for him in reestablishing the Uchiha clan... He just hoped that neither Sasuke nor Madara would stand in his way there... Madara... This reminded the older of the two Uchiha brothers about the reason he joined the Akatsuki in the first place – to spy on the seemingly immortal man and to keep Konoha safe from him... But with what Konoha had done lately, Itachi felt that they deserved whatever will happen to them... The Konoha he fought for was dead and gone. It was time to start writing a new chapter of his life...

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto silently entered the clearing he was directed to by Yugito's last message. He immediately saw his fellow jinchuuriki sleeping leaning on a tree next to the fire. The Nibi jinchuuriki, sensing him, opened one eye and, confirming that he was a 'friend', went back to sleep. The blond shinobi smiled involuntary, seeing how cute she looked in her sleep, and, trying not to disturb her, sat against the other side of the tree. Even if it was night time, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki wasn't really tired yet, so, instead of going to sleep, he raised his eyes up to the stars and the moon rising above the tree line, while absentmindedly playing with the red ribbon tied around his left wrist...

* * *

That's all, folks. Leave me a **review**!

New chapter of the "_**Ronin**_" story should be up soon. I'm also currently working on a Naruto/Mito U. story with lemons (I can't call a story with 6000+ words long plotline a lemon with a plot.) and the second chapter for the "_**KYS: The Moon and the Kyuubi**_". I will also try updating "_**The Demon and the Ghost**_" and "_**Pyro**_" as soon as possible.


	22. The movie

Hello, everyone, here's the newest chapter for "_**Konoha's young sage**_". Enjoy!

*** Review response**:  
**karthik9**, **pegp**, **fanficreader71**, **Naginator**, **Mayhem296**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **eclipseX**, **Green5723**, **Reishin Amara**, **c im am a dragon**, **aragon66**, **TeenAssassin15**, thanks, folks!  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, yeah, filler battles were lame...  
**Junky**, Deidara ends up with Fuu, but before that the lime-haired jinchuuriki will be with bot Naruto and him (maybe, but not probably, even at the same time). Naruto ends with Kyuubi in his mind and Yugito in the real world, but will have some action with Fuu too.  
**Futon Lord**, **Rixxell Stryfe**, yeah, Itachi should live, and be free from ungrateful villages like Konoha I (and Kishimoto) portray.  
**Elemental Dragon Swordman**, fillers - as I've already said - showed that in a very lame way, which I tried to rectify... + the whole arc is rarely used in fanfiction...  
**ogihcI ikasoruK**, no, Deidara is a guy and there will be NO yaoi in my stories. Though him and Naruto doing Fuu together is possible... And no, that is not the leader-sama you're thinking about. =)  
**GoldenGod Rah**, yeah, he will. Just need to know whom. =)  
**waterblade**, Itachi will be good, but he won't join Naruto. In "Ronin" I'm not sure he will even appear... as for Tsuki, I had the second chapter for spinoff almost ready, but my hard disk decided to crash and it was lost (along with 7500+ words Naruto/Mito oneshot), so I'm not sure when I'll have it ready again...  
**Alpha-Ghost-Rider**, sorry?  
**Impstar**, yes, he does. It is even stated in story itself. He will use sage mode less with time, but for now... he'll rely on it a lot.  
**Fuyutaro son**, no, Naruto will not return to Konoha... though he will 'join' them one, during a battle with the snake... He will visit other hidden villages, though.

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Shunshin** - (D-rank) Body flicker - 'Teleportation' jutsu.

*** Poll**: Who Itachi should be with?  
- Koyuki the Snow country princess.  
- Kin (now Koyuki's attendant).  
- Hotaru.  
- OC-civilian. (if you choose this option, give me a country where she lives in in your review)  
- OC-ninja. (if you choose this option, give me a hidden village she's from in your review. missing-nin kunoichi are accepted too)  
- other girl. (specify in your review)

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
Messages  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

**_

* * *

_**Special thanks to **_CloudBloodBane_** for beta-reading this chapter**_  
_**

* * *

**chapter 19: The Movie**

As the morning approached, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki slowly drifted into the realm of fantasies, while not losing his awareness of the world around him. His mind was once again replaying his latest birthday present from the nine-tailed demoness he was always with, as the Kyuubi gave him the most memorable gift he had ever received...

**flashback

* * *

**

** Lime warning

* * *

**

_This year October tenth happened while Naruto was aboard of a trading ship that was heading to the shores of the Snow country, but that by no means prevented the Kyuubi from giving her birthday present to her container. _

_So Naruto once again found himself in the familiar tropical forest, much like the one at the Mt. Myoboku that represented his mind. Knowing that the demoness who called him there was in her 'cage', the blond shinobi headed there. Without any hesitation he passed through the blue-ish semi-transparent barrier that existed between two warrior toad statues and showed where the 'seal' began. _

_Once inside the 'cage', Naruto started looking for the Kyuubi, who, for now, was playfully hiding from him. But once he was deep enough into 'her' part of the forest, the red-headed demoness appeared from behind him, wrapping her hands around his chest and pressing her firm breasts into his back._

"_Happy Birthday, Naruto-kun," the vixen purred into his ear, while her hands slowly moved downwards against his body. Turning around, Naruto found himself face to face with the very naked demoness who was looking at him with lust in her blood-red slitted eyes._

"_Kyuubi-chan?" the blond shinobi whispered, while his hands wrapped around her waist on their own. The vixen just smiled, before sealing his mouth with hers in a passionate kiss. Being the one dominating, the Kyuubi had thoroughly explored her love's mouth with her tongue, not forgetting to let him explore hers too. Finally breaking their kiss, the nine-tailed demoness removed her hands from around his body and, after untangling herself from his embrace, gently pushed Naruto onto the large leaf. She then got on top of him and kissed him again... Sometime later, after a really good snog, the Kyuubi decided to advance to the next (and final) part of her gift._

"_Now, Naruto-kun let me give you my gift..." With that the vixen moved down against his body till she was sitting on her knees in front of him with her face just several inches away from his hidden under pants erection. _

"_You are definitely happy to see me, aren't you?" The demoness teased in an hot whisper, as she slipped her index fingers under the rubber bands of both his pants and his boxers. "Mm..." Pulling those down, the Kyuubi revealed Naruto's six and a third inches – for now, as the blond hasn't finished growing – long cock eagerly standing in anticipation of attention from her._

"_Kyuubi-chan, you don't have to..." The red-headed vixen looked up into his eyes silently telling him that it was what she wanted, before returning all of her attention back to the dick in front of her. Leaning forward a little, she peeled the foreskin, revealing a big red head of Naruto's member. Then she ran her tongue from the base of the cock to its tip and laid a kiss there, before repeating the whole thing four more times, after which she the head of the cock into her mouth and started sucking on it lightly, while having her tongue work its magic on the sensitive organ. As her container's moans of pleasure intensified, showing that he was on his way towards his orgasm, Kyuubi-chan took him deeper into her mouth, till the tip of his member touched the back of her throat, and then even deeper... This proved to be too much for Naruto, as, letting out loud moan of pleasure, he came. The red-headed demoness swallowed the first strand of his thick hot cum, before backing away and getting the rest into her mouth, where she could taste it properly. After playing with his seed with her tongue, the Kyuubi swallowed her treat, before sucking his cock clean and letting it out of her mouth with a wet pop._

"_Mm..." She moaned in her own little pleasure. Looking up, she saw that her container was somewhere on cloud nine. "That was good." The demoness gave her verdict. "I love your taste." Naruto, his face still flushed, was returning to the reality and looked down, meeting his demoness' eyes with his own._

"_That was incredible..." The vixen grinned seductively. "But... You shouldn't have..." Naruto continued. "Maybe I should..." The demoness smile at his thought. He cared not only about his own pleasure, but wanted to return the favor._

"_Nah," She replied. "That was my present to you. Plus, I liked it..." To prove her point she ran her tongue along his softening dick, making it hard again. _

"_Mm... Looks like our little Naruto-kun wants to play with me some more," the red-headed vixen cooed, making Naruto's fading blush return to the full power. Sending her container a message with her eyes to let her suck him again, the Kyuubi started licking his length, while her right hand went down to her wet folds to collect some of her own sex juices. Once she was sure she had enough of her juices on her fingers, the redhead brought hand back up and wrapped it around Naruto's erection. Then she started stroking his cock, rubbing her juices into it._

"_Aah…" Naruto moaned as his member became even harder under Kyuubi's ministration. Smiling at him, the vixen took the head of his cock into her mouth, while stroking the rest with her hand. After a couple of minutes of sucking him, the red-headed demoness let his dick out of her mouth and started licking it, helping herself to reach every point of it with her hand... Another couple of minutes later, as Naruto was approaching his orgasm again; Kyuubi-chan changed her tactics again and switched to taking his cock as deep into her mouth as she could, before taking it out and laying a kiss onto the tip, before repeating the whole thing. _

"_Kyuubi-chan... I'm going to cum..." This time knowing when he was close, the blond shinobi warned his demoness, but she just smiled at him and continued playing with his cock with her mouth. _"_Cumming..." Naruto moaned loudly and shot his load into her awaiting mouth. The Kyuubi just sat there, waiting for him to finish so that she could swallow his delicious seed again. After thoroughly tasting the cum in her mouth and swallowing it, the red-headed demoness took his softening cock into her mouth and sucked it clean._

"_That was so good, Naruto-kun..." She whispered hotly after she finished. She then rose up to lay on top of him, placing her head just above his heart, smiling happily when his arms snaked around her waist. "I love you, Naruto-koi," She whispered as she nuzzled into his chest. He raised his head from the leaf and kissed her forehead._

"_And I love you, Kyuubi-chan." The vixen smiled at him, before nuzzling back into her 'pillow' that was his chest...

* * *

_

** end of the Lime warning

* * *

**

**end of the flashback**

Sensing Yugito waking up, Naruto too returned to reality, though, even with his control over his body, he couldn't hide his blush in time, and the Nibi jinchuuriki noticed it. Approaching her fellow demon container, she looked into his eyes. Naruto didn't look away, but his blush intensified a little.

"So... Was it me, you were thinking about?" Yugito asked.

"Is there even a right answer to this question?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki asked in turn. The Kumo kunoichi raised her eyebrow, silently telling him to explain. "Well... If I say yes, you'll call me a pervert, and if I say no, you'll think that I don't find you beautiful, is it not so?" He finished with a shrug. Yugito huffed, but let him be. For the time being...

After having breakfast and going through their morning rituals, the two jinchuuriki packed their things and headed towards Tanizai city of the Fire country.

**~/ *** \~**

Tsunade appeared on the roof of the Hokage administrative building, where General Shikaku Nara, Kakashi Hatake, Ibiki Morino, Shizune and a platoon of ANBU were waiting for her. After a brief salutation, the Fifth Hokage looked at Shikaku.

"Report!" She ordered.

"Hokage-sama, squad four was successful in the task of finding Danzou's hideout." Shikaku reported, while the said squad bowed. "It appears that the base in question is a semi-underground complex with about three dozen Ne ANBU guards. But knowing Danzou, he will have more as his personal guards."

"Well done." Tsunade said, after listening to the report about the base of the traitorous war hawk. "Anything else?" She asked.

"Yes." The Nara clan head replied. "Squad one came across one of Orochimaru's old bases. This particular one was abandoned several years ago, it seems, and no documents of interest were found there, but we managed to learn the basic structure of _snake_'s bases. Should it happen that we fight him on his territory, our forces would be more prepared." He reported. "These were the most important findings. The full written report will be submitted to you this afternoon." Tsunade nodded.

"Very well. Every one dismissed. Shikaku, Ibiki, meet with me when the report is submitted. Shizune, I'll need you to find all of the reports from missions Danzou went to before retiring." Tsunade ordered. Everyone chorused 'hai', before **shunshin**'ing away from the roof.

**~/ *** \~**

Tanizai city itself was quite large – by the standards of the Elemental nations – being a home for about thirty thousand locals and three to ten thousand guests, depending on the season. The main reason for the city being this big and popular was mineral springs and festivals that happened there several times a year.

Luckily, Naruto and Yugito arrived there during the period of 'calm', so finding rooms to stay wasn't very hard. Actually, the first hotel they walked in had only four rooms at that time... Since there was some time before Yugito would get her next mission, and Naruto could do anything he wanted with his time, since he was no longer a part of any hidden village, the jinchuuriki duo decided to explore the city.

As it turned out, there was little to do in the city at this time, other that visiting mineral springs and mandatory for any touristic city casinos and souvenir shops... Well, there was a new movie from the director who filmed princess Koyuki when she was an actress in the cinemas. Yugito agreed to go to the cinema with him, after she had a good soak or two at the mineral springs, and Naruto gladly agreed with her plan.

* * *

The hot springs were almost empty, bar several locals in the main pool, so there was no trouble for Naruto and Yugito in getting a private open air mineral bath just for themselves. After changing into his swimming trunks, Naruto entered the mineral bath they booked for this afternoon. Yugito joined him there a couple of minutes later, clad in her bikini with a white top and pale red bottom and her hair undone from her usual braid. She entered the water and sat down next to her companion, giggling when she noticed the effect she had on him. It was not like he hadn't seen her like this before – after all they did spend a good deal of time at the beach in Wave country – but the close proximity between them was having this effect on the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Thinking that his embarrassment wasn't good for relaxing – the main reason they were there – the Kumo kunoichi started a casual conversation.

"So, Naruto-kun how was your time in Snow country?" She asked him.

"It was actually quite nice." The blond shinobi replied. "The lands surrounding the capital are now more like spring fields all year, thanks to the generator in the mountains, although the rest of the country is still covered with snow."

"What about the princess? From what I can tell, you've succeeded in placing her on the throne." Yugito had to admit that the momentary blush on his face when she mentioned princess Koyuki said that there was something _interesting_ between them.

"Well, at first she was reluctant to take the position, but now, it looks like she's doing a good job... After all, they do say that the beast ruler is someone who doesn't want to rule. Well, that is true if that someone isn't forced too much into the position, I think." The Nibi jinchuuriki nodded. "What about your mission, anything interesting there? You did leave Wave in a haste." Naruto asked her.

"Sorry, but like I said before, the mission details are a secret. Though, when I was returning from it, I had a run-in with a group of ninja who were hunting me for my Nibi."

"You fought Akatsuki?" Naruto asked with some fear in his voice. "How did get away from them with barely a scratch?"

"No, they weren't from the Akatsuki – they didn't have those cloaks – and there were too many of them. I think nine or ten attacked me. But the strongest of them was barely B-rank, so defeating them and getting away wasn't that hard. Still, we need to be more careful, as now there are at least two organizations hunting us." Naruto nodded, but as today was for relaxing, he thought that speaking about bijuu hunters wasn't the best thing, so he decided to finally ask his ...friend what was her life like in Kumo...

**~/ *** \~**

In the evening, Naruto and Yugito headed to the cinema. Thankfully, most of the people who wanted to watch that film had already done so, thus the odium wasn't too crowded. The film itself was about a young pirate and equally young female navy officer, both of whom had to fight for survival in the seas together and while the film had action, humor and romance, the plot was kind of clichéd so wasn't really that good... Plus throughout the film, Naruto had a nagging feeling that something concerning him will happen and as the film progressed towards the final scene, that feeling within the Kyuubi jinchuuriki only grew stronger.

Finally, after fighting some octopus-like sea monster came the time for the main heroes to say good bye and walk – or sail – their own ways. The hero was standing on the mast near its top end, using some odd ledge as a pivot, while the heroine was sitting on the top yard of the said mast. They both were seen as just silhouettes, thanks to the rising sun... Then the two kissed. At this point Naruto started leaking some killing intent. Thankfully, he was more or less controlling himself, and only Yugito felt that.

"What happened, Naruto-kun?" The Nibi jinchuuriki asked, looking at him. "What made you so angry?" The blond shinobi closed his eyes and took a calming breath, before looking at his fellow demon container.

"That bastard..." He hissed lowly. "He promised us not to use that shot in his films." He explained, but Yugito still, it seemed, didn't understand what was going on. "That was us." Naruto said, pointing to the cinema's screen where the silhouettes of the main heroes were still on the top yard of the mast. "He just changed the exposure to make us silhouettes and added a couple of minor details to the mast." Now that Yugito looked closer, the heroine had the same build and hairstyle as her, though, with the heroine being dark-haired and having a tanned skin, it wasn't easy to spot. Same was with the main hero, who – unless being shown as a silhouette – looked pretty much unlike the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Now it was Yugito's turn to get angry and angry she got, but Naruto had **shunshin**'ed them to one of the empty streets behind the cinema, before the viewers in the odium could feel the killing intent she was leaking.

"That... fucking... bastard..." The Kumo kunoichi growled, releasing enough killing intent for Naruto to make a mental note to never ever anger her.

"Yugito-chan, calm down." The young sage said just above a whisper, trying to soothe his companion. "No one will recognize us there – the director of the film made a good work of picking up the actors, but should I meet him, I'll have words with him about keeping his promises."

"He is mine." Yugito growled, making Naruto take a step back and raise his hands defensively.

"OK, OK, just calm down." Taking a deep breath, the Kumo kunoichi suppressed her killing intent and calmed down. Looking at her fellow jinchuuriki, who was still standing in a defensive position, Yugito blushed slightly.

"Sorry." She was really sorry for this outburst, but being used in a movie without her permission and – more or less, since the original film was changed somewhat – against an agreement... it just put her out of temper.

"Nah, it's OK." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki replied with a shrug. "I think, it's time we call it a day." Naruto said, before changing the topic to more neutral one. "I saw a ninja tools shop there. I'll have to visit it tomorrow – I'm a bit short on kunai." He told Yugito as the two of them headed towards their hotel.

"As you wish..." The Kumo kunoichi shrugged as she had no need to shop for equipment right now. But then again, while he was shopping, she could have another soak at the springs...

**~/ *** \~**

About midday the next day Naruto exited the local weapon shop with a new set of kunai sealed in one of his many scrolls. Knowing from experience that Yugito could spend hours upon hours at hot springs, he decided to take a slow walk back to their hotel. Thirty minutes later Naruto was slowly walking through one of the crowded streets enjoying warmth and sunny weather despite the fact that it was the beginning of November now.

Suddenly he heard a cry for help. Turning around, he saw a pretty large man running with a bag, and an old lady, who was crying for help. Naruto just **shunshin**'ed in front of the burglar and punched him in his stomach, making the man double over in pain and drop the bag, which the Kyuubi jinchuuriki easily caught before it touched the pavement, before dropping onto the ground himself. Naruto decided that he would drop the burglar off by the samurai police station after dropping off the purse, Naruto **shunshin**'ed again, this time appearing in front of the old lady.

"Here's your bag, milady." He said, giving the bag to her. The old woman quickly accepted it, almost like fearing that he would change his mind if she were too slow.

"T-Thank you, young man. L-Let me g-give you something for your deed." Her movements suddenly became so fast that unprepared for such turn of events Naruto couldn't react in time, as the 'old lady' pulled an atomizer from the bag and sprayed something onto his face. Something like a mixture of a strong paralyzing poison and a weak acid – something to keep his healing factor from negating the poison... Just as Naruto fell on the ground, alive but unmoving, the man he had punched moments before appeared next to the 'old lady', who had by now dropped the transformation, revealing she was a woman of about twenty five with short spiky light-brown hair. She wasn't exactly pretty, but not ugly either.

"Damn, this guy..." The man said, kicking Naruto's side. "Hits hard, but Leader was right: he's entirely too honorable for his own good. Ten of us couldn't capture Nibi, and here, the two of us got the Kyuubi down."

"Yeah, I know." The female of the group agreed. "By the way, you're carrying him." A tick mark appeared on the man's forehead.

"And why's that? I'm the one who got hit on this mission!"

"Because I said so," the woman replied in a tone that said that she wouldn't take anything that contradicted with her as an answer... With a heavy sigh, the man threw Naruto over his shoulder and disappeared from the street in a swirl of wind and leaves, followed by his female companion a moment later...

No one on the street paid even littlest attention to what happened there right in front of their eyes...

* * *

That's all, folks.  
Leave me a **review**!


	23. And they fought

Hello, folks! Here's the newest chapter of the "_**Konoha's young sage**_" story. Enjoy!

*** Review Response**:  
**Naginator**, **fanficreader71**, **Impstar**, **eclipseX**, **god of all**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **Jfitzgerald**, **Sraiden**, thank you, folks!  
**Fuyutaro son**, maybe, bu definitely not now.  
**Rixxell Stryfe**, wish granted - he (Danzou) dies in this chapter.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, only ambush could let those two capture Naruto, otherwise he's out of their league. ^_^  
**ogihcI ikasoruK**, the next chapter is here. Can you find "it" there?  
**Elemental Dragon Swordman**, this chapter should answer some of those question. You'll have to wait for the answers to the rest.  
**waterblade**, "KYS: the Moon and the Kyuubi" is a oneshot right now, but I'm trying to expand it into a three-shot... But I won't promise even the second chapter soon as the progress is rather slow there.  
**ArtanisRose**, ^_^.

*** Jutsu List**:  
**Fuuton: shinkuu renpa** - (unknown rank) Wind style: vacuum successive waves - User expels several cutting wind arcs.  
**Izanagi** - (Rinnengan and sharingan forbidden jutsu) Forefather God - For a sharingan wielder **Izanagi** jutsu acts as an ultimate way to avoid any attack, substituting reality with illusion. A wielder of Rinnengan can permanently materialize objects he/she has in his/her mind as well. For a sharingan user, the price for using the technique is a permanent loss of the eye (Danzou's research allowed to expand the time of Izanagi being active to 60 seconds). Rinnengan user has no such penalty and can use the jutsu for as long as he/she has chakra to power it.  
**Fuuton: shinkuu gyuku** - (unknown rank) Wind style: vacuum sphere - Concussive ball of compressed air.  
**Zetsushi nensan** - (unknown rank) Tongue tooth sticky acid - User spits some sticky acid towards the target.  
**Nukiutiho** - (B-rank) Shockwave strike - A very powerful hammering strike, that sends shockwave from the impact.  
**Sousou saisei** - (S-rank) Creation rebirth - Tsunade heals any wounds on her body. This jutsu requires a lot of chakra (stored in the sealing mark on Tsunade's forehead) and shortens her lifespan.  
**Mokuton: doku suiyo** - (bloodline technique) Wood style: poisoned Willow - Creates several thin spears that look like branches of a willow, that are covered with a poison.  
**Iijutsu: akuhouden** - (special technique) Medical technique: electrical surge - User created a powerful electrical surge. Normally the jutsu is used to restart one's heart, but can be used to throw a working heart off the rhythm or even stop its work completely.  
**Ura shishou** - (unknown rank) Reverse four image seal - Once activated, this fuuinjutsu will permanently seal everything in a certain radius away.  
**Shunshin** - (D-rank) Body flicker - 'Teleportation' jutsu.  
**Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu **- (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales a fireball from his mouth.  
**Imari** - (demonic jutsu) Menacing ball - A ball of yoki that turns into an energy beam that disintegrates everything on its way.

*** Poll**:  
I don't want to restart the whole thing (yeah, I'm being lazy), but I forgot to add one great option: Itachi/Mei. Who's in favor of this one? - leave me a review.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
Messages  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

* * *

Special thanks to **_CloudBloodBane_** for beta-reading this chapter**_  
_**

* * *

**chapter 20: And they fought**

Tsunade stood on the thick branch of a tree, observing both the ninja under her command that had decided to rest before besieging Danzou's hideout, and the main entrance of the said hideout. Hidden from the sight by leaves and small branches, the Fifth Hokage could even see two rather poorly-camouflaged Ne ANBU, that were guarding the entrance into their boss' base...

Under the tree Tsunade was using for scouting, in the camp that was hidden from Danzou's minions by foliage and chakra-disruption seals, in the commanders tent, Shikaku Nara and the rest of the 'generals' were finishing the creation of different plans for the siege. From the information they had, the traitorous man had about sixty jounin level ninja under his command and about thirty trainees, who were of chuunin level or lower. But knowing that it is better to overestimate enemy than to underestimate, Shikaku had the strategies build on the assumption that they were facing twice as many opponents.

Outside of the commander's tent, there were about two hundred chunin and jounin, as well as a platoon of ANBU, ready to destroy Konoha's latest traitor and his forces. While their numbers weren't very good for besieging an enemy base, this was just about everyone who could be taken away from Konoha without compromising the village's security. On the plus side, their morale was high as they were fighting to protect their home village from the danger Danzou posed and with a good plan for the battle, their chances of winning were really high...

"We are ready." Ensui Nara – Shikaku's lieutenant – said to Tsunade as he appeared on the same branch as the Hokage. She nodded and picked up her old battle armor, the one she wore during the Second Great Shinobi War.

"Tell everyone we move out in fifteen minutes." The blond sannin said as she put her armor on. It was a little tight for her right now – especially in the chest area – but it provided a lot of protection, and, this, was really useful in heated battles like this one, no doubt, will be.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Ensui said, before disappearing from the branch. Tsunade sighed, hoping that this time Danzou will be finally brought to justice. By her very own hands, preferably.

**~/ *** \~**

When Naruto didn't show up in the afternoon, Yugito got a little worried, but, despite her gut feeling that something bad had happened to her fellow jinchuuriki, she ignored it: he could have just forgotten about the time or something like that... but when the Kyuubi jinchuuriki didn't turn up by dinner time, the blond kunoichi got really worried: her fellow demon container was just too reliable to be that late – something must have happened to him.

Sealing all of their things into separate scrolls, Yugito vacated their hotel room and headed to the shop Naruto said he would visit. Luckily, it was still opened, and she had confirmed that her fellow jinchuuriki at least was there.

'_So something must have happened when he was returning to the hotel._' The Nibi jinchuuriki thought, as the followed the route Naruto had most likely chosen several hours before... After some time of wandering through the late evening city, Yugito finally found one little clue about what could have happened to Naruto: her enhanced senses picked up a weak smell of aerosol poison being used on one of the streets. And if concentrated, she could feel the ...aftertaste of Kyuubi's yoki. It was really weak, but still more powerful than it would have being under normal conditions – the nine-tailed demon was healing her container from the poison! Naruto was attacked, most likely captured! Concentrating again, the blond kunoichi tried to pick up the yoki trail. It was really hard, considering that it was several hours old, but in the end, after a good dozen failed attempts, she succeeded. '_Wait for me Naruto, I'll save you._'

**~/ *** \~**

A bit winded and battered Tsunade entered the 'final' chamber of Danzou's underground base, the one where the old war hawk himself waited. While getting there wasn't easy – Ne ANBU were both completely devoted to their leader and strong, many of them having some really special abilities – the Godaime Hokage was positive she could take Danzou on, especially in a spacious chamber like this... Plus the man really had nowhere to run: all exits from the chamber were blocked by her ninja in a way that even Yondaime Hokage himself would have troubles passing through without getting seriously wounded...

"And here is our princess Tsunade." Danzou said, raising himself from his seat. "Came here to make me the new Hokage?" He asked. The blond sannin glared at him.

"Not at all." She almost hissed. "I'm here as your executioner." Tsunade said then. "For you are a traitor of Konohagakure no Sato." The man in front of her chuckled.

"I know that you don't like my methods, but can't you see that all I do is protect the village?" Danzou asked, as he was undoing bandages on his right arm. He knew that he will have to fight Tsunade for she was even more stubborn the late Sarutobi Hiruzen and even if she was the weakest of the sannin, she still was very strong, especially with her body being artificially kept in the state it was when she was just twenty five years old. Not an easy opponent for someone who was nearly seventy... especially after his '_**Izanagi**_' arm was destroyed thanks to the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

"You pretty speeches won't save you," Tsunade stated, "and since I know that you won't go down without a fight, get ready: here I come." Hoping to end the fight in a single blow, the Fifth Hokage charged at her opponent. Too bad, one doesn't live the life of a shinobi as long as Danzou without some serious skills... Landing softly on the floor several meters away from Tsunade, the Konoha's war hawk did several single-handed handseals.

"**Futon: shinkuu renpa!**" The blond sannin had barely a moment to evade several wind blades that were blown towards her, but she proved that she was worthy of her titles and escaped the attack without even a scratch, but this attack also allowed Danzou to finally free his right arm from all of the suppressors. The arm itself was had tough brownish skin that made it look like it was actually a wooden one, and there was a 'face' that held some resemblance to Hashirama Senju on the shoulder. All in all, this arm looked much like the '_**Izanagi**_' one, but without sharingan eyes...

"Grr..." Tsunade growled angrily when she saw the arm, but did her best to keep her emotions in check, knowing too well that she'd lose if she allowed her emotions cloud her judgment. The Fifth Hokage punched the floor, sending a shockwave towards Danzou, but the man evaded it with little trouble. Tsunade send another shockwave then, trying to force her opponent into a corner. The leader of the Ne ANBU, though, saw through her strategy and evaded the third attack towards the center of the chamber.

"**Futon: shinkuu gyoku!**" The wind projectile hit Tsunade on her chest... The blond sannin's body exploded into a poof of smoke, revealing that she had substituted herself with one of the rocks, created by her previous attacks. The Godaime Hokage immediately tried to punch Danzou, but, thanks to his implanted sharingan, the old war hawk managed to dodge it. Barely. He then created a wind blade in his hand, as Tsunade tried to punch him again, and slashed the sannin's chest. The armor vest had absorbed a good deal of damage, but the Hokage still got quite a nasty wound. This barely slowed Tsunade down, though, as she used her left hand to heal the cut while she did a sequence of handseals with her right.

"**Zetsushi nensan!**" The Hokage spit some sticky acid towards her opponent, but only managed to damage his shirt, as Danzou once again dodged her attack. "Damn it! Stand still, you bastard!" The blond kunoichi growled, as her opponent evaded the second acidic spit of hers. The traitorous Ne ANBU leader responded with another wind blade, but the blond sannin managed to avoid it. "**Nukiutiho!**" Using her both hands, Tsunade hammered the floor of the chamber, sending a powerful shockwave in all directions. The attack was partially successful as she made Danzou lose his footing. Seeing this as her chance to win the fight, the Godaime Hokage charged at her opponent.

"**Futon: shinku renpa!**" The attack caught the kunoichi by surprise, and only her armor had saved her from being cut into pieces by a mass of wind blades. The old war hawk slowly approached the downed woman, thinking that he had already won. "Looks like you won't be any different from the rest of Hokage: you too will die on the battlefield and I, as the one who defeated you, will become the Hokage that will lead Konoha to being the greatest hidden village in the world."

"Don't think that I can be defeated this easily." Tsunade replied as she forced herself to stand up. At the same time the mark on her forehead expanded into the complete sealing array. "**Sousou saisei!**" The colossal release of chakra allowed the blond sannin to instantly heal all of her wounds, thought at a price of shortening her lifespan and dropping the illusion of her youth... Seeing his opponent recover from her wounds, the Ne ANBU leader jumped back, ready to continue fighting.

"Interesting... I didn't expect you to have already accumulated enough chakra to use this move... Oh well, it's not like you will be able to do this again today." He said, while sending a compressed ball of wind towards Tsunade. She dodged it with little difficulty.

"I will not need to do this again today." She activated chakra scalpels on her hands, while simultaneously shifting muscles in her legs to increase her speed. Danzou, thanks to his implanted sharingan eye, saw the attack coming, but his old body was a bit too slow to avoid it, and one of the chakra scalpels cut muscles in his right shoulder... Oh well, not like he needed them to control the arm...

"**Mokuton: doku suiyo!**" A multitude of thin sharp spears grew rapidly from the wooden arm, some of them piercing Tsunade's flesh. The kunoichi took a couple of steps back, before straightening herself and looking into her opponent's eyes.

"You hoped that the poison in those spikes would take care of me." She stated. "Too bad, you forgot that I'm a medical ninja who specialized in counters to poisons. Plus I have made my body immune to most natural poisons, so this attack isn't anything more than some annoying little stabs to me." She than blurred into motion, appearing in front of Danzou moment later. "I also learned my lesson: bastards like you should be killed, not captured." With that she slashed war hawk's chest, ignoring his kunai piercing her chest right above her right lung.

"You..." Danzou coughed as Tsunade jumped away from him.

"I have cut your diaphragm." The blond sannin said as she ripped kunai from her arm and threw it back into the traitor in front of her, nicking his left arm with it. "I know that you are a wind user and, thus, will be able to circulate air into your lungs, but you have no one in this complex to heal you." She allowed herself a quite evil smirk. "I say, you have no more than three hours left, before you die." Not giving Danzou any chance to reply, she attacked, appearing next to the man. "But don't worry, I won't let you live that long." She punched the traitorous Ne ANBU commander, breaking his rib cage above his heart. "**Iijutsu: akuhouden!**" Powerful electricity stroke man's heart, making it lose its rhythm and start beating irregularly. "This is your end, Danzou-teme."

"You might have defeated me, Tsunade..." The old war hawk said, between coughing some blood. "But you too won't walk away from here." At this moment the Hokage saw a seal appearing on his body. The **Ura Shishou** seal.

"Oh shit!" Tsunade hastily **shunshin**'ed as far away from Danzou as possible, reappearing on the ground level in about two hundred meters away from the chamber she fought the man in...

**~/ *** \~**

Yugito sat on a tree. She was really frustrated right now: she had spent entire night trying to save Naruto from those who had managed to capture him, but in the end she had just lost the Kyuubi jinchuuriki's yoki trail. She had no way of tracking him now, but the Nibi jinchuuriki decided not to give up and started thinking about alternative means of finding where her fellow demon container was. People really only capture a jinchuuriki to use him or her as a breeding stock, hoping to create a new bloodline, or to extract the bijuu and create their own container, and the second option just seemed to be far more likely... Extraction and resealing of a bijuu required complex seals that needed a lot of space... Thus Naruto needed to be taken either to some spacious cave, or to some place in the valleys. Since she herself was attacked by bijuu hunters around these places, Yugito assumed that their base wasn't too far away... All she had to do was visit possible locations one by one.

Taking a map of the region, the Nibi jinchuuriki marked the places within thirty miles radius where the base of the bijuu hunters could be. There were only nine... Sighing, Yugito sealed the map into the seal on her wrist and stood up. She then leaped onto the ground and ran towards the closest marked location, hoping that Naruto was there and not somewhere else...

**~/ *** \~**

Senju Tsunade, still looking as old as she truly was, still in her badly damaged armor vest and partially torn clothes, appeared on the bottom of a large spherical hole in the ground that was created by Danzou's **Ura shishou**. What surprised the blond Hokage, though, was a corridor leading to a part of the base they weren't aware of before... It looked like the old war hawk had even more secrets than anyone thought. The man somehow managed to hide entire section of his underground base from her ninjas...

Taking a soldier's pill, just in case she would come across any more enemies, Tsunade, followed by three of her ANBU entered the corridor. The sterility of it clearly indicated that this part of the base was either a technological or biological laboratory. Soon they found the first room there, and, entering it, a dozen glass tubes with cloned humans in them, all developed to the state of a newborn child and seeing the tags on the tubes made Tsunade's eyes widen: these children were made from her grandfather's DNA: they were clones – and not so clones, as there were females too – of Hashirama Senju!

Six of those clones were already dead. Another four in a state where no medic was able to save them. But the final two, little twin girls, seemed to be able to pull through... Sending the three ANBU to explore the rest of the laboratories, Tsunade opened the cloning vats with the girls and picked them up. The girls started crying, but the Hokage quickly lulled them into silence.

"Don't worry, little ones, mommy won't let anything bad happen to you." The blond sannin whispered to them, while making a silent oath to raise them to be the new light of the Senju clan. To raise them as if they were her own children...

* * *

As soon as she was sure that the girls would survive the trip back to Konoha, Tsunade left the laboratory and almost ran into her three ANBU, one of them, 'Cat', having another child in her arms. The blond sannin raised her eyebrow, silently asking Cat who it was.

"Hokage-sama, there were four more cloning laboratories on this level." The ANBU reported. "There Danzou tried to recreate several kekkei genkai: Hyoton element of the Yuki clan, though we are unsure where he found the DNA sample, Shikotsu Myaku of the Kaguya clan and Uchiha's sharingan doujutsu. This child is the only experiment that was alive when we came here. She is the last Kaguya in existence." Tsunade nodded slowly, while looking at the girl in Cat's arms.

"We shall take her with us." The Fifth Hokage said. "She'll be placed into an orphanage until there is someone who is willing to adopt her, one whom I will approve." Tsunade made a small pause. "I will personally raise these two..." She continued, after looking at the two children in her own arms. "...For they are my family. Now, let's return to the camp."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" ANBU chorused and followed the blond sannin out of Danzou's underground laboratories...

**~/ *** \~**

"Leader-sama, this is the Kyuubi jinchuuriki that we've captured." The seal master – though he was apprentice-level at best – of the organization said as he gestured to the unconscious Naruto lying in the center of quite a big sealing array. "But there is one little problem…"

"What is it?" The leader snapped. "I need the power of the demon to become the God among the men and conquer the Elemental Nations. Now that we've finally obtained one, there should be nothing more standing in our way!"

"But the seal that is keeping the nine-tails at bay is of a design unknown to me. I'm not sure if it will even be possible to extract it completely." The seal master said in a fearful voice. The leader just kept glaring at him.

"Start the extraction and make sure nothing goes wrong." The seal master nodded quickly and started channeling his chakra into the array – the one that was supposed to overpower and break the seal keeping the bijuu at bay in the jinchuuriki – while the leader went to the altar where a two-point seal was prepared for him. The other members of the organization, around forty rogue ninja and missing-nins, were now gathering on the sidelines, wanting to witness the historical moment of their boss obtaining the power of a tailed demon. If only they knew how the things will soon go wrong...

**~/ *** \~**

Yugito was done checking the third possible location of Naruto's captor's base, and was getting frustrated with not finding a clue about where her fellow demon container was , when she felt a powerful source of chakra appearing behind the mountain. Being sure that those who had captured the Kyuubi jinchuuriki were now trying to extract the demon, Yugito started running in that direction, hoping that she would not be too late to save her friend.

**~/ *** \~**

The nine-tailed demoness was sitting cross-legged on a large leaf with her eyes resting on her impudent container who got himself caught by a couple of no-name ninjas. She had already driven the lesson of 'constant vigilance' home for him, so, even if she still was a bit angry with him for being careless, The Kyuubi was more or less calm now... Suddenly the 'world' of Naruto's subconscious began shaking like there was a weak earthquake, which instantly had the red-haired demoness on her feet.

"**Those fools!**" She hissed. "**They are trying to break the seal, and they are trying to do that by simply hoping to overpower its safeguards!**" The 'earthquake' was starting to get more and more powerful as the seconds passed. "**We need to stop them.**" The Kyuubi said, as she moved to stand above her container. "**And we are doing it together. In two-tails mode – that should be more than enough for those fools.**"

"O-OK." The blond toad sage replied, while giving his hand to his demoness... In the real world a red, almost liquid looking yoki began surrounding Naruto's body, forming a 'cloak' shaped like a fox with two tails.

"**Fools, I belong only to my container.**" The Kyuubi said angrily to those who were trying to extract her, and with one mighty release of yoki she blew off all restraining and paralyzing seals that were placed on Naruto. Now free to move as she pleased, the nine-tailed demoness sent a yoki claw to rip the local seal master into pieces, before he could do something to her and her container. The poor man didn't stand even half a chance against the attack... Seeing that the captured jinchuuriki was now accessing his bijuu's power and attacking them, members of the organization, along with their leader prepared to subdue the 'beast'.

"Why are you fighting your superiors? You are but a stupid animal in front of the king of nature!" The boss said as he measured the 'two-tailed' Naruto up. "**Katon: goukakyuu no jutsu!**" The Kyuubi let out a loud road, sending forth a yoki wave that both destroyed the fireball and threw the leader of the organization into the stone wall, knocking the wind out of him. The lower ranks of the organization – whatever its name was – tried to swarm the jinchuuriki from all sides, but a spherical blast of yoki from the Kyuubi sent them all flying away in different directions. A couple of them were even unlucky enough to fall into a fast mountain river that ran through a small canyon behind the 'temple' where the fight was going on... The Kyuubi turned to the biggest mass of her opponents and brought the two tails of her and Naruto's current form to be on the either side and a little above of 'their' head. A ball of compressed yoki, almost blood-red in color, appeared in front of the blonde's head.

"**Imari!**" The yoki ball erupted into a beam so powerful that it evaporated everything in its way, killing about ten members of the organization in one go... Unfortunately for them, while performing this attack, Naruto and Kyuubi had the organization leader out of their sight, which he immediately used to his advantage, launching several powerful fireballs at the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, hoping to do just enough damage to knock them unconscious... But him being angry with his plans going awry, the man had overpowered the techniques and ended up sending the unconscious Naruto into the canyon...

"I will f**u**c**k**i**n**g **kill you all!**" Everyone alive and conscious turned to see Yugito standing in the entrance to the 'temple'. The Nibi jinchuuriki already had bluish yoki forming a full-bijuu form around her...

'_Oh shit..._' Every member of the organization thought, before their slaughter began...

**~/ *** \~**

An ancient-looking man slowly approached the pier he had build years ago on the river that flowed not far away from his home. He just wanted to get some water to cook himself lunch, but seeing an unconscious blond teen lying in the water against the weir had the man change his plans... Moving faster than one could expect from someone of his elderly age, the man pulled the boy out of the water and started checking his condition... The boy was obviously alive – the complex seal on his stomach that contained some bijuu made that obvious – but he had some nasty burns on his side and, from being in the river for so long, and under cooling...

"Look like I will have to remember how to heal others..." The ancient man sighed and summoned two mud clones: one to get the water for lunch, and the other to help him carry the unconscious teen to his house...

* * *

That's all, folks.  
Leave me a **review**.


	24. Iwagakure no myou

Hello, folks! Here's the newest chapter of the "_**Konoha's young sage**_" story. Enjoy!

*** Review Response**:  
**Shinjuu - Hakari No Juunishi**,** Naginator**, **AZant**, **ogihcI ikasoruK**, **eclipseX**, **fanficreader71**, **Fuyutaro son**, **god of all**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **ElementalMaster16**, **kakashidex**, thank you, folks!  
**Impstar**, I tried to explain it in the chapter, but I'll repeat it here: the fireball first knocked Naruto unconscious, which made him lose his demonic cloak. And then whatever was left from the fireball gave him the burns he had.  
**Sinewyk**, Naruto is roughly 15, though his body is a bit older, thanks to the Kyuubi.  
**Rixxell Stryfe**, the children found at the laboratory, the Senju twins in particular, are too young to affect the story's universe directly, but they will serve as an additional anchor for Tsunade in the village. maybe in the distant future they will have some other function, but for now...  
**Reishin Amara**, interesting idea, but I still think in the red it looks better.  
**Azurealkaze**, that organization: only OC and since they play little role (temporary separating Naruto and Yugito and having Naruto meet the 'ancient man'), I feel too lazy to even think of a name for the organization...  
**roboguy45**, heh.  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, superpowerful? manga left me with an impression that Konoha is the weakest among five great villages... Plus it will be at least a decade before the girls will be of any mentionable skills as ninja.

*** Jutsu List**:  
**Shunshin** - (D-rank) Body flicker - 'Teleportation' jutsu.

*** Author Notes**:  
Please note that while 'sensei' means 'teacher', it can be also used when addressing towards medical workers, writers, poets, etc.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
Messages  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

* * *

my beta is currently incommunicado, so the chapter is not beta-read. I will update the chapter when I get it proof-read.

* * *

**chapter 21: Iwagakure no myou**

As soon as the man reached his hovel, he laid the teen he had saved from the river onto one of the fur that served him as a bed and ran a quick diagnostics on him. From what the ancient man could gather, the teen was lucky to have a bijuu – most likely the Kyuubi, as it last appeared around boy's birth year – or he would be dead from under cooling... As for the burns on boy's side, they were made by a high-level fire jutsu with a heat trail, so even the yoki cloak wouldn't protect him completely, should such a fireball hit him.

Shaking his head, the ancient man made a handseal, and warm green glow surrounded his hands, as he started healing the burns on young jinchuuriki's body, while helping his natural healing factor in dealing with the under cooling... A couple of minutes later boy's condition improved to the state where the old medic could be sure that the boy will be fine.

Wiping some sweat from his forehead – in his old age healing others was not so easy – the old man allowed himself to relax a bit as he sat on the furs next to his 'patient'. Once he had caught his breath, the elderly medic allowed himself to go back to the river to get some water for medical purposes, while leaving the mud clone to keep an eye on his 'guest', should the boy wake up while he himself is away.

**~/ *** \~**

Yugito sat on the rock by the mountain river as she was resting a bit before continuing looking for her fellow jinchuuriki. Yesterday Naruto was thrown into this river during the battle with the bijuu hunters, and as soon as he had finished them, the Nibi jinchuuriki started looking for the blond shinobi. Unfortunately for her, a full transformation took a lot out of her, as did the lack of sleep for the last couple of days, so her search was going slower that she would have liked...

Oh well, knowing how tenacious of line her fellow jinchuuriki was, Yugito was sure that he was alive, and, hopefully, well, waiting for her somewhere down the stream. Still, just in case that wasn't exactly like that, the Nibi jinchuuriki forced herself to continue following the river, while looking for Naruto, making small stops to rest every two or three hours, so that she won't run out of energy completely...

Finally feeling the effects of the soldier pill she took taking place, the Kumo kunoichi jumped off the rock, landing on the turbulent water surface and started running, looking for any sign of her fellow jinchuuriki.

**~/ *** \~**

When Naruto regained conscious, he found himself in some sort of a hut or hovel that was built from tree trunks and large branches. Reddish sunlight that poured through 'windows' of the hut told the blond jinchuuriki that it was early morning, and allowed him to see mostly everything in the hut... It was relatively small and almost everything there – a table with a chair, a couple shelves with some scrolls, bottles with various medical extracts and dried meat and some vegetables, a large bed made from furs – looked rough and like it was crafted by the hut's owner...

Speaking of him, the man, or, more precisely, his clone, stood in the darker corner of the hovel, and kept an eye on Naruto... The blond shinobi in any other situation would have jumped off the bed and into defensive position, but the man was simply too old to be an active duty shinobi – he looked ancient enough to remember the era of clan wars – plus there were no other chakra signatures around and were he to harm him, the man could have done that before. Still...

Sitting up on the furs, Naruto studied the man, who, apparently, had saved him from the river and had helped healing his wounds from the last fight. The man had long grayish beard that reached his stomach and only a little bit of gray hair on his otherwise bald head; man's face was wrinkled with his skin dried like a parchment, and just as yellow. His eyes now were dull gray and it was impossible to say what their original color was. He was wearing simple grayish buggy clothes that were made from old sackcloth and furs... All in all, the man looked like some hermit who sometimes healed men from nearby villages. Still it was obvious that the man was a ninja – if you ignore the fact that it was not the man himself, hut his mud clone – his posture gave that fact away... Looking back at man's face, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki saw three faint scars under his left eye that looked almost like scratches from some wild beast, but were old enough to be received when the hermit was still young.

Frowning lightly, Naruto tried to recall the elderly man's name – the toad elders and Jiraya made him remember all important figures of ninja world when he was young – but for some reason he could only recall what the man looked fifty years ago when he last appeared on the pages of the bingo books...

The blond teen was brought out of his thoughts when he felt the chakra signature that would be the real hermit approach the hut. And, indeed, a minute later the clone dispelled itself, while the ancient man entered his home, caring a small bucket with water and a bunch of herbs. Placing those on his table, the old man approached Naruto a bit and scanned him with his eyes, no doubt using some medical jutsu to do the diagnostics without a need of being really close to the 'patient'.

"I see, you are awake and rather fine, young man." The ancient hermit said, his voice quiet, dry and a bit hoarse. "I must say that you should thank that bijuu of yours more than me for living through what you lived." The fact that the man knew he was a jinchuuriki made Naruto nervous. The old man obviously saw that and waved his hands to show that the young blond had no reason to be wary of him because of that. "Don't worry, young one, I care not for that, nor I even care for your affiliation. Not anymore... But may I know your name."

"Uzumaki Naruto." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said. Upon hearing his name, the hermit got a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Uzimaki you say? What a fearsome clan they were... yet I have heard nothing about them for a couple of decades... Then again, living in a forest has its own drawbacks... Still I should have guessed you were one of them. Your vitality is too strong even for a jinchuuriki." The ancient man made a pause here. "And I would be Koumyou Kada, young one."Not that he heard man's name, Naruto finally recalled who he was.

"You are... Iwagakure no myou..." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said just above the whisper. "The best male medical ninja in recent history... You got the moniker 'miracle of the Hidden Stone' for saving more ninja than any other battlefield medic during the first Great Shinobi War." The ancient man, Kada, nodded.

"Indeed, young man. Though, I'm surprised that you have heard about me. After all, I retired and left my village more than half a century ago..." The ex-Iwa ninja sat onto the furs next to his 'patient' and ran his hand, surrounded by the warm green glow, just above where Naruto's burn should be under the bandages. "Almost healed. Should be fine by the day after tomorrow even without any medical help." Kada said to himself. "And what about you, young man – being a jinchuuriki, you ought to be a ninja, yet I don't see a hitae-ate anywhere on you."

"I'm a missing-nin. Could not stand the way my village... worked." The blond shinobi replied: while the ancient hermit may not have any bad feelings towards jinchuuriki, no one said that the same would be true for those from Konoha...

"So young, yet already faced with the harsh reality of the ninja world..." Kada said, mostly to himself, as he used some medical jutsu to help Naruto's healing factor in dealing with teen's wounds. "Uzumaki you may be, but I'm almost sure that your demon is the Kyuubi – your seal is too complex for any weaker one, plus only other beast that would need resealing around your birth date would be Ichibi, which you definitely contain not – but the Kyuubi belonged to Konoha..." Seeing signs of fear on blond teen's face, the ancient man continued. "As I said, I retired long ago, leaving any politics behind. Now I'm just a medic and thus will help anyone who needs my help." Naruto allowed himself to sigh in relief.

"Thank you, Kada-sensei."

**~/ *** \~**

Mei Terumi was sitting in her Mizukage's office, dealing with stacks of paperwork – why, again, she had agreed to take this position? – when she heard a cawing coming from outside of the windows. Turning around, she saw a messenger raven sitting on the outside part of the windowsill, waiting for her to take the scroll it had tied to its leg. Even though she wasn't raised in the Hidden Village, thanks to the bloody civil war, she knew that such ravens were used by Uchiha clan only. So the fact that one of the two known Uchihas alive – and both were missing-nins – sent her a message, made her both interested in what it was and wary of what it could possibly be.

So the Godaime Mizukage summoned her most trusted sensor ninja, and her old comrade, Ao to check what exactly the raven had brought her...The man took his time in studying the message scroll with his implanted byakugan, but in the end found nothing harmful in it. Only some text, hitae-ate in the containment seal and quite a big bloodstain.

Since the scroll, and the bird too, was declared to be safe, Mei let the messenger raven into the office and untied the message from its leg. The bird cawed, before flying away, its mission accomplished. Opening the scroll, the Fifth Mizukage read its contents, before sighing and muttering something about more damned paperwork for her to do.

"I want this blood analyzed." She said to Ao. "Uchiha Itachi claims that it belongs to Hoshigaki Kisame. If that is indeed the case, inform me and prepare a team of elite jounin to meet with him: Itachi also claims that he has the great sword Samehada in his possession and is willing to return it to our village for a compensation." Ao looked at his leader pointedly.

"Are you sure it is wise to make any sort of deals with missing-nin who is also a member of that Akatsuki organization we were hearing some news lately?" Mei need only to look at her old comrade to make him keep any further objections to her decision to himself.

"Yes, we are taking a risk there, but if we can get the Samehada back it will be worth even letting him leave the meeting place. If not, Konoha still has that pretty bounty on Uchiha Itachi's head." The red-haired woman said. "Now make yourself useful and sent this blood to DNA laboratories." Ao nodded and, taking the scroll, **shinshin**'ed away from Mizukage's office, leaving Mei alone with the ever-present bane of all Kages: paperwork.

**~/ *** \~**

Yugito lay in a small cave near the end of the mountain bed along which the river flowed... For the first time in years she had reached the point where she could no longer continue her 'mission' without suffering severe aftereffects were she not to rest now. But then again, being up for more than two days, then using full-bijuu form and run for another two days without any real rest would put anyone in the similar condition. Any other jinchuuriki that is... At least she managed to find a place where she wouldn't be disturbed while both her body and her mind recovered as she was promising herself that 'tomorrow' she will definitely find Naruto, alive and well...

**~/ *** \~**

As what Itachi wrote was truth and the blood and hitae-ate indeed belonged to Hoshigaki Kisame, Mei decided that if the man would return Samehada to her village, she'll pay him the money he wanted and let him go. Of course, she'd rather have him join Kiri – willingly or not very willingly – but that would cause political conflicts and, possibly, a war that Hidden Mist Village wasn't ready to fight yet.

So, telling her secretary, that she'll be out for the rest of the day, the red-haired kunoichi descended from her office down to the plaza in front of Mizukage's palace where the team of elite jounin to meet with Itachi was standing ready to move out. Ao, whom she had tasked with assembling the said team, was there too, of course, and once the man learned that his leader was going to join the jounin team, he started protesting against it. A death threat later, the wielder of Kiri's only byakugan eye had shut up and didn't irritate Mizukage any further... Once everyone was ready, Mei commanded the team to set out...

For a meeting point Itachi chose a large clearing in about thirty minutes away from the Kiri walls. But despite saying that he will be waiting there, the Mist couldn't find anyone in the immediate area. Cautiously, they approached the center of the clearing, and as soon as the first ninja crossed some invisible line, a vortex of black feathers surrounded the group. The entire team instantly assumed defensive positions, ready to fight their opponent, but the feathers just flew together, forming one Uchiha Itachi, and not in Akatsuki cloak, with a large bandaged sword – presumably, Samehada – on his back.

"My apologies for startling you." Itachi said as he did a step back from the group of Kiri ninja. "I also didn't expect Mizukage-sama come here personally. I'm flattered." While he was saying the last part, he scanned the red-haired Kage with his sharingan, trying to estimate her power levels in case things go not as he planned or wanted them to be. Of course, he was just a powerful clone – the real Itachi was somewhere safe – but still... Unfortunately for him, his eyes staying on the Mizukage for a couple of extra seconds gave her the wrong impression, but for now she remained calm and didn't accuse him of anything.

"You claimed to be in possession of my village's great sword Samehada and be willing to return it to us, for a compensation, of course, Itachi-san. I believe that this is enough of a reason for me to be there." The Uchiha nodded. "Now that this out of the way, please hand Ihano-san..." One of the jounin stepped forward. "...the sword and if it is indeed the Samehada like you claim it to be, I will hand you the paycheck for fifty million ryo like you asked for as a compensation." Itachi nodded again and removed the Samehada from his back and gave it to Ihano.

"Here you go." Said jounin removed the bandages from around the sword, revealing it to be at very least a lookalike of the great sword Samehada. When the sword ...shivered, Mist ninja were assured that it was really that sword – after all, the technology of forging living swords was so well guarded secret that it couldn't be known to anyone outside a certain family of blacksmiths, and was so complex that recreating it would take more than five years Kisame was a missing-nin. Plus the shark-like man would never willingly part with Samehada, so he was most definitely dead.

"This is indeed the great sword Samehada, Mizukage-sama." Ihano replied, once he finished inspecting the blade... Well, he was a little surprised at first that it didn't attack him, but it was likely because its previous master was dead, and it hadn't chosen the new one.

"I see." The red-haired kunoichi said. "Uchiha Itachi. Since you have upheld you part of our little deal, I will uphold mine. Here is your paycheck" She produced a piece of paper from her battle kimono and handed it to the ex-Akatsuki ninja. He took it and, after making sure that it was valid and had correct information filled in it, put it into his pouch.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you. Mizukage-sama." Itachi, the clone one, said, before making a single-handed handseal and vanishing in another vortex of black feathers. He reappeared several miles away, in another, much smaller clearing, where the real Uchiha was waiting. Taking the paycheck from his clone, Itachi dismissed it and, sitting more comfortably on the stump, continued thinking about where to go next.

He didn't want to leave Elemental nations, but staying anywhere near any well-known ninja villages was out of question – it would make it impossible for the 'new' clan to have any moments of peace... So that left him with countries that had minor and not so well know hidden villages or no hidden villages at all... Land of Iron would have been nice, but there was too cold and ninja weren't liked much there because of some disagreements they had with local samurai in the past... Speaking of cold countries... Itachi had heard that the princess of the Snow country had a hired shinobi guard. While becoming one would definitely put him in a bit of spotlight, he could always claim to be a mercenary, and so would be able his children when they became ninja too...

After some more thinking, Itachi decided to look what he could get in the Snow country, and, if there wasn't a position he liked, to try Land of Sea next. So, with his plans made, he sealed his camp gear into the scroll and headed towards the nearest sea port.

**~/ *** \~**

Under Kada's medical care Naruto quickly got better and was more or less ready to go by the next morning, but as the ancient man said that it would be better for him to stay for some more time, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki decided to keep hermit's company for now, updating him on what was happening in the world. And he also noticed that the old man wasn't in as perfect health as first appeared to be: he was a bit pale, though with his tanned skin it wasn't easy to spot, and from time to time he coughed oh-so-unhealthy...

On the fourth say of staying with the old medic, Naruto saw him collapse during day. When Kada woke up, the blond teen asked what was wrong with him.

"Young one,.." The hermit replied. "I'm very old, and my body isn't as good as it was half a century ago. And I'm lethally ill... I should have died a decade or so ago, but I had a feeling, the same feeling that made me leave my village all those years ago, that I still had a purpose in this world. So I used my skills as a medical ninja to keep myself alive... But now, that I met you, young one, and listened to your story, I understood what my purpose in this world was: I was to see to the man, who will start the new era, the era when one's happiness is stronger than politics and general hate hidden villages have towards each other, won't die. This man is you, Uzumaki Naruto. You will make this world more into those times..." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki didn't knew what to reply to the ancient man.

"Thank you." Was all that he said, but Kada wasn't done...

"Now that I feel that I fulfilled my purpose in this world, I can die peacefully. But before I leave to the world of our forefathers, I want to ask something from you, young one. I know of the hate Iwagakure has towards your father, but I still want to ask to bring my body back to the village. I want to be buried next to my father." Naruto nodded: getting into the Hidden Stone would be difficult as he will have to announce himself as a guest of the village to do what the hermit asked. "But you should not be afraid, young one, I'm still a hero of the village, and my word should keep you safe for this one time." The blond jinchuuriki nodded again.

"Very well, Kada-sensei, I will do it."

"Thank you, young one." The ancient man replied. "And now I believe, it's my time to see my father again." The old medic said with a smile, before closing his eyes. For the last time...

* * *

An hour later, Naruto had finished sealing the things Iwagakure no myou might have like to be buried with him and was ready to leave towards the Hidden Stone village, man's body sealed in a separate scroll, secure inside Kyuubi jinchuuriki's cloak. But before he could make it even fifty meters away from the hut where the ancient man lived, he felt a familiar chakra signature approaching.

Not a minute later a certain blond kunoichi from Kumo appeared before him, slightly winded, but really happy to see him. They stood there looking at each other for a couple of seconds, then Yugito jumped at him and enveloped him in a hug...

* * *

That's all, folks.  
Leave me a **review**.


	25. The Hidden Stone village

Hello, everyone, here is the newest chapter of the "_**Konoha's Young Sage**_" story. Enjoy! (even if it is kinda short)

*** Review response**:  
**kakashidex**, so, but no action (of any kind *wink*) till the next chapter.  
**eclipseX**, **god of all**, **Reishin Amara**, **Naginator**, **.XD**, **fanficreader71**, **Skelo**, **Hanzo of the Salamander**, **The Last Rising Of The Phoenix**, **ChaosLord SilverLink310**, **ogihcI ikasoruK**, **Foxes-rocks**, **Seimeisamarian**, **Josh2750**, **Owlbear**, **Androidking17**, **waterblade**, thank you for your reviews, folks!  
**Impstar**, so if this chapter isn't up to the size standards, but with my inspiration suddenly taking a vacation and me needing to work for my magistracy exams, this was the best I could write.  
**Rixxell Stryfe**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, yes, Deidara will pop up soon. In three or four chapters.  
**warriorx559**, well, Itachi/Kin pairing is winning anyway...  
**roboguy45**, sorry?  
**golfaholic**, in 2 or so chapter. 'officially' at least.

*** Jutsu List**:  
**Henge** - (E-rank) Transformation - allows user to transform into another person or object

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
Messages  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

* * *

_This chapter is yet to be beta-read.  
_

* * *

**chapter 22: The Hidden Stone village**

After being almost beaten to death by Yugito – 'cause he made her worry about him – and then being kissed fiercely by her – now, because he was alright and was happy about that – Naruto was finally let out Nibi jinchuuriki's grasp. Still, the blond kunoichi didn't let him wander more than a couple of feet away from her.

"...So, Naruto-kun, what your plans for now?" She as the two were walking towards the nearest city, which was something like thirty miles to the east.

"I'm heading to Iwagakure no Sato." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki stated, while touching his cloak to make sure that _the scroll_ was there and undamaged from Yugito's 'assault'. The kunoichi instantly became completely serious.

"That's insane, Naruto! Iwa doesn't like guests all that much, and you going there is a suicide: they will kill you the moment they see you, just because you look like Yondaime Hokage!" The Nibi jinchuuriki shouted as she looked at the young sage next to her, hoping to convince him to forget about this idea. Unfortunately for her, Naruto was very stubborn at the times, and right now he was going to do anything to fulfill his promise.

"Yugito-chan, Kada-sensei asked me to bring his body to Iwa, so that he can be buried next to his father, and fulfilling his last wish is the least of what I can do for the man who had saved my life." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said. "And you shouldn't worry this much, I know how I can enter the Hidden Stone village and return alive." He finished with a small chuckle. Yugito wasn't too impressed by this, and still thought that it was too dangerous for him to approach Iwa. But she also could see that arguing with him would only be a waste of time.

"Very well, but I'm coming with you." The blond kunoichi said in a tone that clearly showed that she wasn't going to accept any objections... Sighing, Naruto agreed with her.

"Let's get going then." He said, and the two switched to the running – after all, the faster they deal with this situation, the better.

**~/ *** \~**

Finding Iwagakure no Sato wasn't easy: neither Naruto nor Yugito knew where exactly it was located, and the village itself wasn't Hidden for nothing. Eventually, though, the two jinchuuriki found it, located in the valley among the mountains of the Earth country. Even from a distance it looked ...magnificent and strong, with its buildings cut from stones or even smaller mountains... Though, for Naruto the village seemed to be lacking some green color: only rare groups of trees were present within the village's walls.

"Well, we are here, Naruto-kun." Yugito said, as the two were looking at the Hidden Stone village from their spot on the passage between two mountains, that formed the entrance into the valley. "I hope you really do have a plan on how to enter the village without getting killed."

"Indeed I have a plan." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki replied, before making a concentration sign with his left hand. A moment late bluish ring of chakra rose along his body, changing his appearance. Now Naruto had even more tanned skin and reddish-brown hair, the whisker-like marks on his face were gone, and his eyes now were of a simple brown color.

"**Henge**?" Yugito asked in surprise. "You think that such a trick would work?"

"Oh, but this isn't normal **henge**, Yugito-chan." The young sage replied in a tone that teachers use with naughty children. This earned him a smack on his head from the Nibi jinchuuriki, but he paid it no mind and continued. "Aside from having different visual – as you could have seen – this variation of the transformation technique is much more durable, meaning that I will need to take a serious blow or be hit with a very strong canceling technique for it to dispel. Plus it allows adding minor modifications to appearance without a need to redo the jutsu and it can be multi-layered, adding additional 'protection' for me in this case." Naruto said, while applying the modified **henge** again, though, his appearance remained the same it was after the first transformation. "Let's go."

The two jinchuuriki descended into the valley, and soon found themselves in front of the mighty wall that surrounded Iwagakure no Sato. These walls looked absolutely solid with no gates or any other entrances at all, but a paved road going straight into the wall betrayed the place where the gates should be. When Naruto and Yugito approached the gates (wall), four Iwa jounin materialized in front of them. All of the jounin were at least low A-ranks in terms of power, but Naruto couldn't get more accurate readings without being marked as suspicious by them for his sensor abilities.

"Halt, strangers, state your business in the Hidden Stone!" One of the jounin said loudly, while all four of them got into the battle-ready stances. Yugito raised the hood of her cloak – it was drizzling slightly there – and showed the guards her hitae-ate: while the alliance between Iwa and Kumo was shaky, it was still an alliance.

"Jounin of Kumogakure no Sato, Yugito Nii, escorting ronin Taizou Motemitsu to see Sandaime Tsuchikage-sama." Taizou was Naruto's fake name for this 'mission' the two jinchuuriki agreed on. "Taizou-san had recently met an old war hero of your village, Koumyou Kada. Unfortunately, Kada-sama was very old and terminally ill and died several days ago, but not before asking Taizou-san to be buried here." Yugito explained. The four jounin still in shock from hearing Kada's name, confirmed that there indeed was hero's body with Naruto, and that the man died a natural death. Once that was done, the two jinchuuriki were let into the village via an opening in the wall created by the guards.

"Well, here we go." Naruto commented as they were now walking the streets of Iwagakure no Sato, accompanied by an ANBU cell – who lets an unknown party wander 'round the village unsupervised? After about fifteen minutes of walking, the group stopped in front of the Tsuchikage tower – a massive administrative building that was cut from a single very large stone.

"Wait here." The captain of the ANBU team ordered, before telling one of his underlings to go into the tower and ask for an audience with the Tsuchikage – the fate of village's hero like Koumyou Kada was a good enough reason for the Kage to see them. A couple of minutes later the ANBU operative returned and told something to his commander. "I seems that Tsuchikage-sama won't be able to see you today. Your audience will be tomorrow at ten in the morning. Now we will bring you to the inn where you will spend the night." The man said in the tone that implied that should either of the two jinchuuriki disagree, they wouldn't like the consequences...

* * *

The next morning Naruto and Yugito were escorted to the Tsuchikage tower, by a different ANBU team, but that was kind of expected, since ANBU shifts inside the villages were twenty four hours long. Inside, the tower there were potted plants here and there, red and brown carpets on the floors and various pictures on the polished stone walls, but it still appeared to be cold and militarist...

Tsuchikage's office was located on the top floor of the tower, once the two jinchuuriki were allowed in, they saw that the office was a big rectangular room with windows allowing one to see almost entire village from here. Along the only wall without windows – the one where the door was – there were bookcases and a couple of big saves for the documents. Sandaime Tsuchikage himself – a short man with white hair, made up in an old samurai-like style, and big 'potato' nose – was sitting behind his large table not far from the central window on the right wall. Despite being the oldest Kage in history, Oonoki was still a very powerful shinobi – one could tell that by just looking at him.

Tsuchikage dismissed the ANBU cell for the moment, so now it was only him, Yugito and Taizou in the office. Of course, the ANBU were waiting just behind the doors, ready to destroy the village guests, should they try to harm their leader...

"I was informed that Taizou-san is there to fulfill the last wish of Koumyou Kada-dono. I was also informed that Kada-dono died a natural death about week ago. Is that correct, Kumo ninja-san?" Oonoki asked Yugito, looking up from the documents on his table. The Nibi jinchuuriki nodded.

"That would be correct, Tsuchikage-sama." Was her reply. The shorter man nodded back and turned to Naruto, while levitating things off his table.

"Taizou-san, can I see the body?" Third Tsuchikage asked. The young sage nodded and took the scroll out of the inner pocket of his cloak, where it was until now. Unrolling the scroll on the table, Naruto pushed some of his chakra into the seal, releasing the body. The ancient medical nin looked exactly like he was the moment he died – for some reason time inside the seals didn't affect the things like it did normally... Oonoki levitated himself onto the table and ran a quick diagnostics on the Kada's body – like almost any jounin in the Elemental nations, Sandaime Tsuchikage could do at least basic medical techniques, like simple diagnostics or minor healing. "It appears that the report was correct and you are not implicated in Kada-dono's death." The short Kage said. "Iwagakure no Sato would bury Kada-dono according to his last wish. I personally vouch for that..." Naruto had to fight a desire to breath out in relief that the 'mission' was now almost complete. "...But I will not vouch for what will happen to _you_." Tsuchikage said suddenly, pointing at Naruto. "You came here hiding your true appearance, a deceit that might cost you your life." Yugito was now scared of what Oonoki would do to her ...boyfriend? The Kyuubi jinchuuriki, though, didn't look like was afraid, or even surprised that he was discovered.

"What was expected of the mighty Tsuchikage of the Hidden Stone." The young sage said with a small sigh. "But if I'm to reveal myself, I want you to swear that my companion and I will be allowed to leave your village peacefully: we came without any intentions to cause any harm." The old Kage thought over this for several seconds, before reluctantly agreeing.

"Very well." Naruto nodded and dispelled his **henge**. For a moment the Third Tsuchikage thought that this was _the Yellow Flash_ in front of him, but remembering that the most hated in Iwa man was dead for over a decade, he recovered and got into a fighting stance. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you where you are standing." Oonoki said, while hovering above his table, an attack of his dust element already prepared to be launched at the blond sage.

"One, you promised to let us leave the village peacefully. And two, if you kill me, you'll have two very angry ladies after you, one of them being the mightiest demon of our days." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki replied, seemingly unfazed by the attack aimed at him... The Tsuchikage sighed and dispelled his jutsu, before landing into his armchair.

"Very well, I'll let you live this time, the son of _the Yellow Flash_. But the next time I see you within fifty miles from my village, you better pray you are as fast as your father was, or you wouldn't be able to escape my ninja." Oonoki threatened.

"I will remember that." The young sage, while recasting his transformation technique. "Now that our business is over, I believe that I should be leaving." ...Once the two left his office, the Sandaime Tsuchikage looked up at the portrait of his predecessor, Muu.

'_Am I doing the right thing, letting hi__m __go, sensei?_' Oonoki asked himself. '_Even if he did a service to my village, he is still an enemy of my people..._'

* * *

"Naruto, what you did was really stupid – revealing yourself in front of the man who would kill you simply for whose son you are! You are lucky that he followed his oath and didn't attack!.." Yugito was reprimanding her fellow jinchuuriki for what he did in Tsuchikage's office... Unfortunately for the blond kunoichi, her companion was listening to her much.

"Relax, Yugito-chan." Naruto replied. "Tsuchikage-sama let us leave peacefully... Plus he already knew that I was under **henge**. Trying to lie to him about what I am with it would have caused much more problems than what I did." He had a point there, not that the Nibi jinchuuriki was going to admit this easily, though. So she continued scolding the young sage in front of her...

**~/ *** \~**

Uchiha Itachi entered the chamber where his audience with the princess of the Snow country was scheduled to be. Hopefully, she would accept his proposition, and the Uchiha clan would have a place to call home... Itachi sighed. Getting to meet with princess Koyuki wasn't easy: his reputation of the S-rank missing-nin was working greatly against him there, but he managed to get an audience with the princess without resorting to use of his sharingan on the secretary – he wasn't as good as Shisui at mind control, but manipulating weaker minds wasn't beyond him...

Moments later Koyuki entered the room from the other side, separated from his by a barrier of seal-enforced glass, accompanied by a kunoichi of about sixteen years old with long black hair. A single glance at the girl was enough for Itachi to tell that her specialization was genjutsu, sound-based, most likely and light throwing weapons like senbon needles, and that she was about low-B rank in strength. What made him raise an eyebrow, was how the girl behaved around the princess. It was almost like they... Forcefully removing the thought from his mind, Itachi entered his 'business mode'.

"Good afternoon, your highness. Let me..." Koyuki raised her hand, showing that she wasn't in the mood for official crap right now. Understanding this, the sharingan wielder ceased talking.

"Uchiha Itachi, you are world renowned S-rank criminal, and so I would like to know what are your reasons for coming to the Land of Snow." The princess asked, her voice betraying that she didn't feel as safe as she tried to appear.

"With my last mission being recently aborted due to the events in the Hidden Leaf, I find myself in the need of a place to live and call home. As such, I offer you my services at the small price of a place for me and my family to live." Itachi replied. Then, after a small pause, he added: "I see that you are not sure whether I can be trusted. Unfortunately, my official record isn't helping. But let me tell you this: all that I was doing these years was a part of my mission. I can't tell you the details, but the only time I betrayed Konoha was this year when they went too far and spat on Yondaime Hokage's legacy." This seemed to have some effect on the princess.

"I see." Koyuki said after a pause. "With how the things are in my country right now, I do find myself in need of a hired shinobi forces, so your proposal would have being much welcomed if I knew I could trust you not to betray me. As such, if you agree on a six months-long probation period where your powers will be limited to those of a C-rank ninja, I will accept your proposition. I will give you a day to think about this, and if we don't have an agreement, I would like to see you out of the country by the end of the week." Itachi nodded.

"I shall inform you about my decision by tomorrow afternoon then, your highness." The sharingan user replied, despite having already made his mind.

**~/ *** \~**

Naruto and Yugito were walking through the forests not far away from the Hidden Waterfall – the Nibi jinchuuriki was recalled back to Kumo for some briefing – when the blond sage sensed a familiar chakra signature not far away... After telling Yugito that he was going to meet a friend, Naruto separated from her and sped towards the chakra signature he felt. It took him only ten minutes from there to catch up with his 'target'.

"Yo!" Naruto exclaimed, while flaring some of Kyuubi's yoki to identify himself. The teal-haired kunoichi, who was running away from the village, stopped and turned around to look at him,barely believing her senses.

"Naruto, is that you?" The jinchuuriki of the seven-tails asked, before launching herself at the blond and enveloped him in a strong hug. "You don't know how happy I am to see you!" She exclaimed!

"What happened, Fuu-chin?" Naruto asked, once the girl had released him from her embrace.

"Um... well... You have heard news about Akatsuki recently, right?" The teal-haired kunoichi asked, but continued without waiting for Naruto to reply. "After they lost Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, they became much more active and, recently they started making their moves..."

"I have heard about Itachi killing Kisame and leaving the organization, but the rest is new to me." The young sage interrupted her.

"Well, after their recent attack on the container of the five-tails, even if they failed to capture him, my village decided that it would be safer, if I no longer reside there." Fuu continued her tale, but Naruto decided to once again interrupt her.

"So, they banished you?" The Shichibi jinchuuriki shook her head.

"No, they just sent me out of the village without removing me from the list of active-duty shinobi. In other words, I'm still a ninja of the Hidden Waterfall, I'm just ordered not to return there for the time being." She explained.

"That was kind of low." The young sage said, hugging his friend lightly. Fuu nodded.

"Yeah, but there is little I can do about that." She told him, while leaning a bit into his embrace.

"Well, you can always come with us, Fuu-chan." Naruto replied. "Me and Yugito-chan are traveling together for some time now." Seeing some confusion on her face, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki elaborated. "Yugito-chan is like us, she's the jinchuuriki of the Nibi no Nekomata." Fuu nodded. "So, are you coming?" He asked, releasing the teal-haired girl from his embrace. She simply nodded 'yes'.

* * *

That's all, folks!  
**Read** and **Review**!


	26. Jinchuuriki three

Unbelievably, the update for this story happened. Here is the newest chapter of the "_**Konoha's Young Sage**_" story. Enjoy!  
Don't worry, though, none of my stories (even if they weren't updated for months) are abandoned, and, eventually, will be finished in a proper way. Also, from now on, my Naruto stories will be updated more often, so rejoice!

*** Review response**:  
**roboguy45**, **fanficreader71**, **Naginator**, **The Last Rising Of The Phoenix**, **ogihcI ikasoruK**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **Foxes-rocks**, **Rixxell Stryfe**, **dark zues**, **Still Not Dead Yet**, **god of all**, **awsm125**, **Sandaime Hokage**, **Alphawolfy28**, thank you for your reviews, folks!  
**ChaosLord SilverLink310**, well, only select few can see through Naruto's variation of henge, and with Tsuchikage not ordering to hunt them down... it was not that hard to leave the village for them.  
**Skelo**, no, no threesomes (yet).  
**DJatomica69**, yeah, right, I need to update the summary - when I manage to think up a good one - thanks for reminding me about that.

***AN**: This chapter contains limes! Be warned.

**Happy New Year, everyone!**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
Messages  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

* * *

_This chapter is yet to be beta-read.  
_

* * *

**chapter 23: Jinchuuriki three**

Some fifteen minutes after he left, Naruto returned to Yugito with a teal-haired kunoichi following close by. The jinchuuriki of the Nibi no Nekomata studied the other girl for a couple of second, before turning back to her fellow blond and asking:

"Who's she?" Of course, thanks to her communication with her bijuu, Yugito knew that this girl Naruto had brought with him was another jinchuuriki, but the Kumo kunoichi wanted to know where this girl was coming from and what her story was.

"This is Fuu-chan from the Hidden Waterfall village, Yugito-chan." Naruto replied. "Her home kind of exiled her because of the Akatsuki threat, so, I though, why not have her come with us? This way we will be not as easy target, should they decided to try and attack us." A friend of Naruto's, close one maybe, but still just a friend, Yugito decided.

"Welcome to the group, Fuu-san." She finally said, though still in a bit cold voice. The teal-haired kunoichi, though, shrugged that off, as was just happy to be accepted somewhere. "Oh, well, we're heading back to the Lightning country, so tag along." Yugito added then. And not waiting for a reply from either of her companions, she jumped onto the nearest tree, before heading to the East.

"Let's go, Fuu-chan." Naruto said, before going after the Nibi jinchuuriki... Not wanting to be left alone again, the teal-haired kunoichi ran through the tree-tops after them.

**~/ *** \~**

It took the three jinchuuriki a week to get into the Lightning county. During these days, even though the two kunoichi weren't openly declaring each other as the rivals for Naruto's love, unconsciously they still competed. This led to Yugito getting much closer to her fellow blonde, and they actually got to some real snogging. Of course, not wanting to be left behind, Fuu too was getting more and more affectionate with the young sage. This, in turn, caused the 'rivalry' continue... At least, since neither was doing this consciously, they were civil with each other.

Eventually, though, the Nibi jinchuuriki had to temporarily part her ways with them, as she needed to pay a visit to Raikage per his orders, and she just couldn't bring her companions over to the village, for obvious reasons. So after giving Naruto a kissing to remember, the blond kunoichi left the camp the trio made in the valley some thirty miles away from Kumogakure and headed to the village.

* * *

Wanting to be done with this meeting as soon as possible, Yugito went straight to the Raikage's tower, once she was checked at the gates. Once inside the tower, the blond kunoichi wasted no time in getting to the top floor, where A's office was located. Unfortunately for her, though, she was far from the only one who wanted to meet with the leader of the Hidden Cloud at the moment: there was a queue, and she'll have to wait... Two hours later it was finally her turn.

"Good afternoon, Raikage-sama." The Nibi jinchuuriki greeted as she entered his office. A – a huge dark-skinned blond man wearing just dark-gray pants with huge-buckled belt under his Kage robes – stopped doing his exercises with dumbbells and returned to his seat at the table.

"Ah, Yugito-chan." He said. "It's so good that could get there so quickly: I have a mission for you that I just can't send with a messenger lizard." The Raikage paused for a moment to gulp down a bottle of protein cocktail. "Recently, Orochimaru's hideout was discovered on the border between Lightning and Bear countries. And since it is a potential security problem for us, I wand you to go there and check its status. If possible, you are to destroy it as well." He said, while tossing her a scroll which contained mission specifics.

"Um, Raikage-sama, not to sound discontent with the task, but wouldn't it be easier to send Bi there? Unless you've sent him on some mission far away, he'd be much closer both to this hideout and to Kumo." Yugito said. The Raikage leaned forward a bit.

"You just explained why I asked you to do this mission, Yugito-chan." He said. "My brother is away and he won't be back for another month or so, while the snake's lair needs to be dealt with as soon as possible."

"Very well, Raikage-sama." The Nibi jinchuuriki replied. "I'll do everything in my powers to make sure that Orochimaru is not a threat to Kumogakure." She said, before asking: "Should I report you the results of the mission in person?" A though about this for several seconds, before shaking his head.

"No, you won't be obliged to. Your report can be sent over with the messenger lizards." Yugito nodded, while already planning how she – no, they, as her companions will definitely want their piece of revenge against the snake sannin – will deal with this Orochimaru's hideout.

"Can I go then?" She asked. The Raikage nodded in response, and the Nibi jinchuuriki left his office...

* * *

It was about am hour before the sunset when Yugito returned to the camp, though the valley where it was was already in the deep shadows. Naruto was busy cooking a dinner for them on the campfire – a duck or a similar bird – while Fuu was nowhere to be seen, most likely away to the small forest to collect some more firewood...

"Welcome back, Yugito-chan." The blond sage greeted her.

"So, what did the Raikage want from you? If that's not a secret, of course." Fuu, who, indeed, was carrying an armful of firewood, asked as she returned to the camp just a moment late.

"No, its not a secret, just something he didn't want to send via lizards." The Kumo kunoichi replied. "He wants me to check and, if possible, destroy Orochimaru's base on the border with the Bear country. You two are welcome to tag along." Naruto nodded.

"We will. We do have a bone to pick with the snake, right, Fuu-chan?" He asked. The teal-haired kunoichi nodded in response.

A night and yet another round of the ongoing rivalry between the two kunoichi later, the jinchuuriki trio headed to the South and towards the snake sannin's hideout Yugito had to explore and (likely) blow up.

**~/ *** \~**

Two and a half days later they finally reached their destination, and, once again, Naruto had to wonder how the hell this hideout was found in the first place: if you didn't know where to look, you'd never know it was here – a hollowed tree on the edge of a dead forest was just not exactly the place where one would look for the entrance to the evil man's lair...

Since Naruto's sage mode could not detect anyone inside close to this entrance, the trio of jinchuuriki decided that it was safe for them to enter, with him going first in order to find and disable any sealing traps they'll come across – there were more than few of those out there, as it turned out.

Eventually, though, the entrance tunnel ended, opening the way into the base itself. Using her fire affinity, Yugito lighted the torches for everyone, and they began exploring. Judging by the layers of dust they could see everywhere, this base hasn't been used for months if not years. So, as it was not likely that they will have to face any hostile ninjas there, at the first crossroad the trio decided to split up – not before agreeing to meet there in two hours – to speed up the exploration of the hideout: Naruto went straight ahead, while Yugito took the right side of the base and Fuu took the left one.

As it soon turned out, he picked the 'wrong' part of the base, as the one which was at contained only living quarters and supply and utility rooms, all of which had nothing of any value (if you don't count old and simplistic furniture) in them. So, after mining every room with explosive tags – good thing he always carried several extra packs of those with himself – Naruto returned to the meeting point.

Fuu was the second one to return. And from what she told, her part of the base too didn't have anything interesting – more supply rooms, power generators, water filtering systems and the likes. Yugito soon too joined them, but from the look on her face she did find something. Though, when asked, she didn't say what it was and, instead, dragged the other two jinchuuriki into the depth of her part of the base, which looked like a laboratory...

The chamber which to the Nibi jinchuuriki wanted to show them, indeed, was a part of a genetic lab and had many glass tanks lined against the walls. In the center of the room there were tables and some controls for the machinery in the room.

"What did you find here, Yugito-chan?" Naruto asked. Instead of replying verbally, the blond kunoichi brought him up to one of the tanks in the room and pointed to the tag that was attacked to it. Bringing his torch closer, so that he had more light, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki read it:

_Test subject #127-r12  
gene donor: (?) Rikudou sennin  
status: failed, dead (3rd week)._

"Oh, Kami-sama." Naruto breathed out. "The Snake got his hands on the rinnengan DNA. This is not good." He said, before he went around the chamber, checking the tags on the tanks. "At least he failed at cloning an army for himself from the sample." The blond sage said, once he was finished with that. Both Yugito and Fuu silently nodded in agreement.

"This should be reported!" The Nibi jinchuuriki said, but Naruto shook his head.

"No, if we do, then everyone will be in an uproar and will try to get their hands on the sample – we do not need to tell just whom Orochimaru tried to clone... His experiments, without _unnecessary_ details, should be unveiled though." He said. Yugito thought about this for a couple of seconds, before nodding in agreement: the young sage next to her was right.

"Very well. Now let's blow this lair up and be done with this." Naruto, in response, just gave them the packs of his special, overpowered, exploding tags, and went with Fuu to help her finish mining her part of the base.

* * *

Half an hour later everything was finished and the three jinchuuriki safely left the underground base. When they were on the mountain side a good distance away from where the snake sannin's hideout was, the blond sage sent out a powerful chakra pulse to activate the seals they have planted all over that place... A couple of seconds later there was a muted explosion and a large part of the forest sank, as the ground was collapsing into the underground tunnels and chambers.

"Well, we're done here." Yugito said, and the two of her companions nodded in agreement. "Now I need to write a report to Raikage-sama about what we've found here, and we're free for the time being."

"When we were going there, I saw a nice lake half a d ay from here. Why don't we head there?" Naruto said. Since neither Yugito nor Fuu had any objection, the jinchuuriki trio headed there.

**~/ *** \~**

A certain organization made of the S-rank shinobi was having a meeting in a cavern that no one but them knew the location of.

"As you might have heard, Itachi had betrayed us and took both his and Kisame's rings with him." The figurehead of the Akatsuki organization, a man who went by the name 'Pein', said. "At the moment we do not know where to he had went, but it is most likely that he will be lying long for the time being, hoping to escape our wrath... Anyway, his defection is not of any real concern to us at the moment. The statue us ready for the next sealing, which, I can say, should be the two-tails." There was some murmur among the other members of the organization, but everyone quieted down when Pain was about to continue speaking. "Sasori and Deidara, you two will go capture the container of the two-tails." He ordered.

"Hear that, Danna, we've got a real mission, umn." Deidara, a man with long blonde hair said, as he turned to his partner – a bow-backed man with some upsweeped backwards dark hair and a wrap covering the lower part of his face. "We'll be able to show her the power of my art!" The said man didn't move a muscle on his face at the enthusiasm of his partner, and instead replied in an annoyed tone:

"Be quiet." Then he turned to Pein. "Leader-sama, I was under the impression that we're always working as two against one when it comes to capturing the demon containers." He said. "But according to my sources, the container of the Nibi no Nekomata is currently traveling with the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Shouldn't we work together with Hidan and Kakuzu in this case?"

"You want us to work together with the zombie duo, umn?" Deidara asked.

"Be respectful towards each other." Pein cut in. "No, Hidan and Kakuzu are too far away from you to make this operation a joint one for your pairs. Plus I'm more that sure that the two artists like yourselves will be able to deal with two demon containers." The Akatsuki 'leader' said. "Since the time for the sealing of the Kyuubi no Yoko has yet to come, you are to let its container be for the time being."

"We shall do as you wish, Leader-sama." Deidara's partner, Akasuna no Sasori said, before the pair flickered out of existence, having canceled the jutsu that had them attending this meeting as a hologram images of themselves.

**~/ *** \~  
Warning: from now on, the lime part begins. If you don't want to read that, skip to the next chapter - you won't lose anything plot-wise  
**

Yugito crept up to her 'unsuspecting' target from behind and once she was close enough, the topless kunoichi leaped at Naruto (who was sitting on a fallen tree near the waterside of the lake they were at), hugging him from behind, pressing her bare breasts to his back.

"Naruto-ku-u-un!" The Nibi jinchuuriki purred as she rubbed her assets against his back, successfully distracting him from whatever he was thinking about. And with her head on his shoulder, the blond kunoichi could easily see the reaction of his body to her current presence, and she was quite pleased with it – she wanted it after all, as she felt it was the time for their relationship to advance onto the next level.

"Yugito-chan?" The young sage asked, as he turned his head to look at her. His further question was silenced in a kiss she gave him. At the same time, one of her hands started traveling downwards, till it was on the rubber band of his boxers. Yugito smirked in her mind when she felt his body freeze for a moment, when she slipped her hand inside and wrapped it around his erection – quite sizable, but not too large, one... It was then her turn to freeze for a moment when the blond kunoichi felt her partner's hands on her hips, pushing her closer into his back while gently kneading her buttocks, making her purr and moan into their kiss form the sensation. Just like he was moaning from her fingers playing on the hard length of his erection.

"Let me make you feel good, Naruto-kun." The blond girl whispered seductively, while making a single run up and down his length with her hand. A moan of pleasure form him was the only answer she needed. So now she was slowly stroking his shaft, while gently tapping it with her fingers... Soon she felt him getting closer to the edge, and then, with a loud moan of pleasure he came, covering both her hand and the insides of his boxers with his cum...

"That was incredible." Naruto said, once he came back to Earth. "Now, I believe, it is my turn." And with those words the turned around and, taking Yugito a bit by surprise there, took one of her breasts into his mouth, while playing with the other with his hand, making the blond girl purr and moan in pleasure... A minute or so later he switched between her breasts, while his free hand went south and began rubbing her nether lips through the thin fabric of her bikini bottom... Soon this all became too much for the excited and aroused Nibi jinchuuriki and she climaxed, her nails digging into his back as she was trying to get more and more of his ministration just a second ago.

Naruto, though, wasn't done with her, even though he stopped pleasuring her as she rode her orgasm... Once he was sure that the blond girl had returned back to the real world, he pushed her back, making her fall lightly on her back on the grassy ground. Lifting her hips a bit, he pulled her panties to the side, exposing her wet pussy. The feline girl tried to say something in protest, but she was quickly silenced, when his tongue gently touched her clit, before going to her nether lips, wet with her juices.

"A-ah!" Yugito moaned as the Kyuubi jinchuuriki ran his tongue up and down her slit, sending waves of pleasure through her being. "M-mph, Naruto-ku-u-un!" She cried out as he continued licking her down there... It took the blond sage some more effort to bring hid girlfriend to the edge again, but with his tongue tracing alternating patterns along her pussy lips and a lot of licking and sucking on her clit, he did that soon enough... Here he did step up in his ministration and, after making sure that it was all good and wet, inserted his finger into her pussy. This proved to be to be too much for the blond girl, and, pushing her hips towards his face, she came with a loud moan...

* * *

On his way back to the camp (his 'encounter' with Yugito, who now was sunbathing, happened some distance away from it) the young sage came face to face with Fuu. The teal-haired kunoichi too wasn't wearing anything bar a pair of (very skimpy) panties – she wasn't at all shy around those whom she trusted, that was what the two blondes learned practically the first day of their 'vacation' at this lake... And judging by the look in her eyes, she had something naughty planned.

Naruto didn't have to wait long to find out what that was: the bronzed girl swiftly placed herself close to him, with her chest pressed into his, while capturing his lips with hers for a heated kiss... Somehow – the blond teen wasn't sure how – they ended with him seated against the tree, with Fuu in his lap, while she was still pressing her body into his, moaning into their kiss as their clothes-covered crotches rubbed against each other.

"Does my Naruto-ku-un need more lovin'?" The teal-haired kunoichi cooed as she sagged backwards to both give him a great view of her breasts and press their crotches together even more. "Don't worry, Fuu will take a good care of you." And giving him one more kiss, the almost naked girl slid backwards form his lap till her head was lying on her folded hands that, in turn, rested on his legs. Almost lazily, she pulled his boxers down, allowing his erect member out of it cloth coffins, blushing a bit at seeing his tool so close. Fuu placed her finger on the head of his cock then, before slowly tracing a circle around the very tip of it, getting a low moan of pleasure from Naruto. She did this again and again, in a looser circle each time, till her finger 'fell off' the head. There, she wrapped her hand around the shaft and did a couple of strokes, listening to blonde's moans with a light smile on her face. The she did something a bit unexpected: she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his tip in a light kiss...

"Fuu-cha-an!" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki moaned out, as the teal-haired kunoichi ran her tongue 'round the tip of member, before kissing it again. Then she took the entire head of his dick into her mouth and sucked on it, making the blond to howl out in pleasure. Taking him out of her mouth, Fuu ran her tongue around the crown, and then took him back in and continued sucking him, slowly taking more and more of his length into her mouth.

She was four inches into her task, when Naruto got close to his edge and warned her about his approaching release. The teal-haired kunoichi, though, didn't listen to his warning and continued sucking on his cock, just taking most of it out, so that only the head remained in her mouth. Soon, the blonde jinchuuriki could take no more and with a howl full of pleasure he erupted into her waiting mouth, as she gulped down his seed, quite eagerly too... Once she was done with his release, Fuu rose up, returning to seating in his lap while wrapped her arms and legs around him and placing her head onto his chest.

"Does my Naruto-kun feel loved?" She asked in a low sex whisper, as she snuggled even closer to him...

Sure, their relationship was strange, and love would not be the best word to describe it, but then again, the life of demon containers too was far from normal, so, it worked somehow, and it was fine...

* * *

That's all, folks!  
**Read** and **Review**!


	27. The end of the vacation

Hello, everyone, I present you the newest chapter of "_**Konoha's young sage**_" story! Also, the story is three years old today, so thanks for being with me all this time! I promise that, despite all hardships, I will finish it someday, so, stay tuned for more adventures of our favorite jinchuuriki threesome!

*** Review response**:  
**karthik9**, **Naginator**, **BowTechsniper**, **Bloodied-Samurai**, **Skelo**, **warriorx559**, **fanficreader71**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **blasterdog**, **Rixxell Stryfe**, **Jaison15**, thank you for your reviews, folks!  
**Queryan**, **joseph33759**, yes, I know what you mean, but, alas, my inspiration for this story is on a vacation... I write, when I can, but it's not much and not often... Hopefully, it will become better soon...  
**Alphawolfy288**, I'll keep this in mind, but at the moment I have no need for such a technique.  
**KyuubiKidx9**, at some point in the future such meeting will indeed occur, but not his chapter, nor the very next one.

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Kibaku Nendo** - (no set rank) Exploding clay - Earth-related technique that allows Deidara to model clay into animal figures that he can control. These figures can either be used to attack his targets (by making the figures explode; the power of the explosion is not set and depends on how much chakra was put into his particular figure) or as a means to transport himself and others around.  
**Onipou: tama shaei **– (unranked demonic jutsu) Demonic arts: soul projection - this is a very special jutsu that allows its caster to create a manifestation of soul in the physical world. User can't project his own soul, but he can do this to any other soul that inhabits his body. User can control whether 'projected' soul can or can't do any jutsu (energy for them will be taken from projected soul's chakra/yoki reserves) and if it can, up to which level it can. Theoretically, all jinchuuriki and Tengu demons can perform this jutsu.

* * *

**Now, some rant**:  
* Before you accuse me for writing super-Naruto, remember, our jinchuuriki has chakra reserves close to high-jounin level by now. Then multiply that amount by 10 (sage mode boost) and you'll get roughly the amount of chakra needed to pull **hakutora gufuu** jutsu. As you can see, it is well above what average Kage has. And it took Naruto thirty minutes to recover from using the jutsu too.  
* Kyuubi knows that she shouldn't kill Sasuke. So all her moves against him are not lethal, though they can result easily in a bruises and broken bones.  
* Pareo is Spanish (correct me if I'm wrong there) big shawl. Usually worn by females around their shoulders, in stead of top or a skirt or as a substitution for a short dress.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

* * *

**Konoha's Young Sage  
****chapter 24: The end of the vacation**

As it turned out, Naruto's fears about Yugito's reaction to him having some fun with Fuu were groundless. Sure, the blond kunoichi wasn't exactly happy with him either, but... It looked like she had accepted it that there were three of them now. Still, that night the Nibi jinchuuriki insisted that from now on she would share a tent with Fuu, leaving Naruto to sleep alone in the other one. That was four days ago, and since then the relationship between the jinchuuriki trio had advanced a bit. Of course, neither of the girls had gone too far, like anything more than oral and some heavy petting and the likes, with young sage yet, but they both were slowly getting closer to having real penetrative sex...

* * *

**Warning! the following scene contains lemon. Skip till the next bold text-line, if you don't want to read it**

* * *

It was an early afternoon when Naruto's relaxation time at the small wild beach was interrupted by Yugito, who was in a mood for some naughty fun at the moment. But since the young sage himself was in a similar mood now, he just followed her to a small secluded clearing not far away either from 'his' spot at the lake or from where their camp was...

As soon as two blondes arrived there, the Nibi jinchuuriki went on 'offensive' and, turning around, kissed him hard, snaking her hands around his shoulders. This left Naruto stunned for a moment as, usually, his fellow blonde wasn't this direct, but then he reciprocated by kissing her back just as passionately, while wrapping his arms around her waist, bringing her even closer to him... The next several minutes the two spent with their lips locked in a fiery kisses, but then the Kyuubi jinchuuriki undid his lover's bikini top, while his mouth moved to her delicate breasts, constantly switching between those two perfect fleshy orbs as he sucked and nibbled on them, much to Yugito's enjoyment. Meanwhile she busied herself with playing with his hair with her hands... Some time later, the blond sage decided that it was time for him to continue on his way south, but before he could even reach his lover's belly button, he was stopped:

"It's my turn now, Naru-kun." The Nibi jinchuuriki said as she gentry pushed him away from herself and made him him stand back up, before getting on her knees and pulling his boxers down, revealing his raging erection. "It's so big." She purred, before running her rough cat-like tongue from base of Naruto's cock and all the way to its tip, causing the said blond to let out a moan of pleasure. Yugito smiled to herself at hearing the results of her work, but she was just starting. Opening her mouth, the Kumo kunoichi took the tip of her lover's member into her mouth and began sucking and licking it like she'd do with a lollipop, causing Naruto to moan more from the pleasurable sensations she was giving him... Even with his jinchuuriki stamina, the blond sage didn't last long under his lover's ministrations and several minutes later he was almost ready to fill her mouth with his seed.

"Yugito-cha-a-an!" He told her as a warning. "I'm... a-ah... about to... o-a-oh... cum." The Nibi jinchuuriki made a moaning sound to tell him that she had heard his warning and continued blowing him off. Still, she took some of his length out, leaving only a little bit more than a tip in her wet and eager mouth. "A-ah! I coming!" He cried out, before unleashing his load. Even though she thought she was ready for this, Yugito was a tiny little bit surprised by the amount of cum that was shot into her mouth, but she managed to swallow it all, and even more, she managed to make quite a show of this for Naruto... "You're the best, Yugito-chan!" He said in a loud whisper as he was returning back to normal from his orgasmic high. "Now, let me return the favor." The Nibi jinchuuriki nodded. Once she finally took his member out of her mouth completely.

"Can I... Can ride your face today, Naruto-kun?" She asked as she stood up. Seeing nothing wrong with this, the young sage nodded, before lying down onto the grassy ground in a comfortable way. Meanwhile, Yugito undid her bikini bottom and, once she was sure he was ready to receive her, placed her feet at the sides of his head and slowly lowered herself down, till his tongue could almost touch her wet in anticipation of the pleasure to come pussy lips. Placing her hands on his chest as a support, the blond kunoichi spread her legs a bit more to give her lover a better access to her core, before finally lowering herself onto his face as his tongue went to work on her snatch. "Yes-s-s! A-ah! More, more! O-oh!" Yugito moaned out as she was greatly enjoying what Naruto's tongue was doing to her. And wanting to get even more of the pleasure he was giving her, she began fidgeting back and forth over his face... Sometime, maybe a minute or two, later, the two jinchuuriki heard the rustle of someone walking through the bushes that surrounded the clearing they were at, but as they could feel the chakra signature of Fuu, they knew that they weren't found by some stranger.

"Oh, there you are." Fuu said, her voice just above the whisper, as she came really close to her blonde companions... Even though they weren't alone anymore, neither of them did anything to stop what they were doing: Naruto didn't have much against having the teal-haired girl there, and Yugito... Well, the container of the Nibi no Nekomata was too much into being eaten out to care about the other girl joining them – and join them Fuu did, as she took Naruto's once again rock-hard member into her eager mouth and began sucking it so deep that its tip was hitting the back of her throat...

If Yugito had had any problems with the Taki kunoichi joining their fun before, those were completely blown away with the how much better Naruto was eating her out now, moaning into her pussy from the pleasure Fuu was giving him... With the stimulation she was provided with, it did took much time for the Nibi jinchuuriki to reach her release:

"A-ah! Cumming! I'm Cumming! O-o-ah!" She cried out as her juiced, freely flowing from her wet core, covered Naruto's face – not that he minded this much – while he switched to gently sucking her pussy lips one at a time, prolonging her orgasm with these ministrations... It all felt so good that she didn't even tell him to stop and, instead, once she had more or less returned back from her orgasmic high, she fidgeted over his face, telling her fellow blond to continue licking her. Which he did, and quite eagerly... It didn't take too much time for Naruto to bring Yugito back over the edge for the second time, and with how enthusiastically Fuu was sucking on his dick, he too came just several moments later, filling teal-haired girl's mouth with his seed.

The dark-skinned kunoichi, though, didn't swallow his load and, instead, moved up against the young sage's body till she was sitting on his chest. Then she cupped Yugito's cheek, gently turning her head so that the two of them could look into each others eyes... And here Fuu kissed the blonde girl in front of her, sharing the result of her 'hard' work with her is a incredibly-hot kiss that lasted for quite some time and ended with both kunoichi swallowing the cum that ended in their mouths when they finally broke their lip-lock. Suddenly, the teal-haired kunoichi kissed Yugito again, before pulling them both off Naruto and onto the grass, with herself being on the bottom as she wrapped her legs around Nibi jinchuuriki's waist, holding her tightly on top of herself.

"Come, Naru-kun, thrust your great delicious cock between our eager wet pussies." She cooed, while beckoning the young sage with one of her hands and doing handseals for a contraceptive jutsu together with Yugito with the other one... Naruto didn't need to be told twice, so he quickly positioned his raging erection to where the girls' pussies were and slid in between their bodies. "Yes-s-s, just like this!" The teal-haired jinchuuriki moaned out, while fellow kunoichi let out a quiet moan of pleasure. "Do more, do us with your big fat cock!" Fuu continued, telling Naruto to continue thrusting between their bodies, and once he was going all out with this, she turned her attention to Yugito, once again sealing blond girl's mouth with her own...

It took him several minutes, but somehow the Kyuubi jinchuuriki managed to bring both girls to their releases with this 'fucking' just before he himself came. And came he did – with something that sounded like an animalistic roar he pumped his biggest as of yet load between the two lovelies that were Yugito and Fuu... Once Naruto withdrew from between them to sit back and recover a bit form this intense round, the girls weren't done yet: Yugito, finally free from the other kunoichi's 'grip' and rolled off to lie next on the grass next to her. Then she scooped some cum from her stomach with her finger and brought it to her mouth, tasting it like a cat would do with cream... Fuu wasn't far behind her in making an erotic show for Naruto as she was instead rubbing his cum into her skin like it was some exquisite massaging oil... Suddenly, a spark passed through her eyes, as she turned to look at the young sage.

"So, Naruto-kun..." She said in a low sexy whisper. "What shall we do next?"

* * *

**Lemon warning ends here!**

* * *

**~/ *** \~**

Later that day, when it was time for dinner already and the jinchuuriki trio, finally decent again, was sitting around the campfire, Yugito spotted a messenger lizard with a scroll on its back running towards her. Taking its burden off the little creature, the blond kunoichi read the message written in the scroll.

"Looks like our little vacation is over." She said finally. "Raikage-sama needs me to do some job near the Hidden Grass village, so we shall be moving over to the Great Grassy Plains now. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning, that is if you're coming with me." Both Naruto and Fuu nodded as by now there were quite used to being in Yugito's company. "Very well then. Since we will be traveling quite a lot in the next several days, we'll need to rest well tonight, so..." Even though the Nibi jinchuuriki didn't say it aloud, her companions got everything that she wanted to tell them.

The next day, just after they had had some breakfast, the jinchuuriki trio left the lake where they had spent the last several days and headed to the West, towards the Great Grassy Plains that surrounded Kusagakure no Sato... And to get there they needed to cross forested mountains of the Bear country, endless grassy fields of the Rice Fields country and swampy lakes of Rain country. Of course, since all these three countries had their own official or not Hidden villages, the trio needed to be careful not to get some hostile foreign shinobi after them...

* * *

Somehow, the three of them managed to safely travel through the Bear country without alerting any local ninja. And so far they were just as lucky at crossing the Rice Fields country, even though the area was overrun with Orochimaru's minions... But it turned out that their luck couldn't last forever, and on the fourth day of their travel, when they were ready to enter the Rain country, the jinchuuriki trio ran into a group of Konoha ninja, whom Naruto instantly recognized as the Root ANBU, thanks to the rather distinct marks on their masks. And these guys, acting on the orders of their master, were less than friendly with them... Not that it helped them much as they were quickly sent on the next great adventure by the coordinated counterattack of the three demon containers...

A day later, having met no other hostilities on their way there, they finally reached a bight of a major river of the Great Grassy Plains that the Nibi jinchuuriki had chosen as a location for their camp there – since from there she had to act alone, Naruto and Fuu needed a place to wait for her... And since by the time the said camp was finally established it was early evening already, Yugito decided that she'll leave for her solo assignment the first thing the next morning (she still had enough time to spare to allow herself something like this), so the jinchuuriki trio was spending their first night in the Grass country still together...

**~/ *** \~**

Sasori and Deidara had finally collected everything they would possibly need for their mission and were now ready to leave the Akatsuki base in the River country. Normally, they'd have left a day or even two ago, but with the recent defection of Itachi and the death of Kisame, the organization was kind of short the manpower and so the two irreconcilable artists had to take on two jinchuuriki – both highly skilled, if Zetsu's reports were to be believed – on their own, and this required them to be more than just ready.

And according to Sasori's spies in Kumo, both the Kyuubi and the Nibi jinchuuriki were now somewhere in the Great Grassy Plains, which was quite far away from their current location; even one of Deidara's clay birds would take more than the whole day to cover such a great distance... And even if a flight would save them a lot of time, it would be an unneeded waste of chakra from the explosion master, something that the two Akatsuki couldn't afford at the moment. So, they were going to travel by foot, which would take roughly four days... Oh well, according to the very same spy, both demon containers were more that likely to be still where they were at this very moment by then...

**~/ *** \~**

Fuu managed to keep her good girl act for barely a day after Yugito had left for the solo part of her mission, leaving the teal-haired girl alone with Naruto. After that she 'reverted' back to how she was during their little vacation at that lake in the Lightning country... Not that the Kyuubi jinchuuriki seemed to terribly mind her like that as he certainly reaped the benefits of having a sexually-active and very hot kunoichi with him. Still, somehow, while Yugito was away, the two of them still hadn't gotten up to going much further than they had gone already...

Anyway, on the fourth day after her departure, the Nibi jinchuuriki returned to their camp, and while she looked rather tired, she was more or less unharmed, so it looked like her solo mission – whatever it was – was a success... Still, Yugito told them that the next morning they will be leaving for the Bird country for the next part of her mission, which was elimination of a crime syndicate there, which was threatening Grass country's population and was too strong for the local ninja to deal with. And since by then no one would care, whether the blond kunoichi would massacre them herself or she would have some help, Naruto and Fuu decided that they will lend their fellow jinchuuriki a hand here.

**~/ *** \~**

"So, Danna, how will we deal with the jinchuuriki, um-m?" A certain blond bomber of the Akatsuki organization pestered his stoic partner as the two of them were getting really close to where, according to the latest reports, their target was... Sasori sighed, greatly annoyed with his entirely too lively companion, but still replied politely:

"Deidara, I've already told you that I will be the one to capture the Nibi container. Your tasks will be to separate her from the Kyuubi jinchuuriki at the very beginning of our fights, and to keep the Kyuubi container busy while I do my work."

"As you say, Danna." The blonde replied. And after a rather long pause, he added: "Um-m, Danna, you said we're almost there, shouldn't we switch to flying on my art, um-m?" The Suna missing-nin and the greatest puppeteer of all ages wanted to raise an objection that only something eternal like well-preserved puppets could be called an art, but at the moment they didn't have any time to waste in their heated debates about this, so he just gave his partner a go with but a slightest nod of his head. Deidara smiled a bit wickedly, while letting his left hand to bite some of the clay from his pouch... Several seconds of chewing the substance later the mouth on his palm spew out a small figure of a bird that bore some resemblance to an eagle. The Iwa missing-nin then made a handseal, while pouring his chakra into the figure, and once there was enough, he threw the clay bird into the air, where it expanded in size so that now it could easily carry both him and Sasori on its back. "Let's go, Danna!" Deidara said, jumping on the bird he had just created. Several seconds later the puppet-user of Akatsuki joined him there, and the blonde commanded the bird to soar into the skies...

**~/ *** \~**

The jinchuuriki trio, already on their way to the Bird country, finally made their first stop since they had left their camp in the Great Grassy Plains several hours ago. And while the two blondes busied themselves with starting the fire and preparing their dinner, the teal-haired kunoichi was sent to get them some water from the spring some distance away... Naruto was about to add a couple of logs into the campfire, when he stopped and looked south-west.

"We have a company." He said after a short pause. "Five o'clock, two powerful chakra signatures approaching our location, both about a kilometer away and fifty meters off the ground." Yugito turned to look in that direction, but because of the forest trees, she could see no one, even if now she too could feel the approaching chakra signatures. "So, unless you know other S-rank shinobi groups that travel in pairs and have any specific interest in us, get ready to fight Akatsuki agents." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki added. His fellow blonde nodded and, sealing the fist she was about to peel back into the scroll with their food supplies, got ready for a fight... "They are here." Naruto said after some long and tense seconds of waiting. "Incoming!" Indeed, a second later several whitish clay birds the size of a pigeon flew into the clearing, aiming for the jinchuuriki there.

The explosions that followed, while very powerful, did little to the blondes, who jumped aside to avoid the flying bombs. Still, they made a mistake of jumping in different directions, and the ones attacking them capitalized on it, by sending more clay birds in to further separate the two... Such a bombardment continued till Naruto and Yugito were more that three hundred yards away from each other. Then the Akatsuki finally decided to show themselves as the huge clay bird carrying two passengers descended onto what was left from the camp. One of those passengers – Sasori of the Red Sands – jumped off, before attacking Yugito.

Wanting to help her, Naruto tried to run there, but a moment later he was forced to jump back as Deidara began sending more explosive clay figures after him... So, as for now the Kyuubi jinchuuriki had his hands full with the Iwagakure missing-nin, he really hoped that Yugito could last long enough against Sasori for Fuu to arrive and lend her a hand – he was sure that together those two will be able to deal with the Suna missing-nin...

"Damn!" Naruto swore as yet another valley of clay birds forced him to get even further into the forest and away from where Yugito was facing the Akatsuki puppeteer. '_Without my sage mode I'm not strong enough to take Deidara the Mad Bomber on, but he definitely won't let me be still for long enough to collect the natural energy I need._' The Kyuubi jinchuuriki thought. '_And as much as I don't want to use Kurama's powers, lest we attract even more unneeded attention, looks like I have no choice._' Receiving a mental nod from the vixen, saying that she was ready to fight with him, Naruto flashed through the handseals. "**Onipou: tama shaei!**"A red mist of yoki started flowing from the blonde's body, spreading heavy suffocating waves of killer intent around, and quickly manifested into Kyuubi's avatar of choice: red semi-transparent form of her human body, dressed in the clothes that might not even be called decent, despite covering everything truly 'interesting' on her body.

"**Let's fight, ningen.**" The demoness said, sending a glare at Deidara, who chose to maneuver his bird upwards and away from his suddenly far more dangerous opponents.

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That's all folks!  
Leave me a **Review**!


	28. The great fights

Hello, everyone, I present you the newest chapter of "_**Konoha's young sage**_" story!

*** Review response**:  
**fanficreader71**, **warriorx559**, **King of the Kiln**, **karthik9**, **Elemental Dragon Swordman**, **jarediz13**, **blasterdog**, **Lord Kolos**, **hehe123**, thank you for your reviews, folks!  
**787neohedgehod**, no, this story (obviously) isn't abandoned. I'm just not updating it as often as I used to.

*** Jutsu list**:  
**Onipou: katon: akai jun**** - **(unranked demonic jutsu) demonic arts: fire style: red shield** – **user creates a semi-spherical shield of yoki in front of him/her. The shield can withstandalmost any non-demonic fire attacks, as well as most of wind, earth and lightning jutsus, but is rather weak against water-based attacks.  
**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba** - (unknown rank) Wind style: wind blade - an arc of cutting wind  
**Onipou: katon: atsui kanazuchi ****- **(unranked demonic jutsu) demonic arts: fire style: fiery hammer** – **user draws a circle in the air, before placing a hand in the center of the said circle. This results in a powerful beam of energy being released.  
**Kibaku Nendo** - (no set rank) Exploding clay - Earth-related technique that allows Deidara to model clay into animal figures that he can control. These figures can either be used to attack his targets (by making the figures explode; the power of the explosion is not set and depends on how much chakra was put into his particular figure) or as a means to transport himself and others around.  
**Onipou: youton: entsuchi **- (unranked demonic jutsu) demonic arts: lava style: land of fires - creates a shielding half-sphere of lava under the caster.  
**Fuuton: daitoppa** - (C-rank) Wind style: great breakthrough - This jutsu creates a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way.  
**Onipou: katon: ranendan** - (unranked demonic jutsu) demonic arts: fire style: storm of fireballs - creates many fireballs flying in mostly random directions from the caster.  
**Onipou: katon: ranenkiri** - (unranked demonic jutsu) demonic arts: fire style: storm of fire blades - pretty much the same as the one above, but with fire blades instead of fireballs.  
**Imari** - (demonic jutsu) Menacing ball - A ball of yoki that turns into an energy beam that disintegrates everything on its way.  
**Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu **- (C-rank) Fire style: great fireball - user exhales a fireball from his mouth.  
**Katon: Housenka no jutsu** - (C-rank) Fire style: Mystical fire phoenix technique - user exhales many small fireballs form his/her mouth.  
**Kawarimi** - (E-rank) Substitution - jutsu user quickly replaces him/her-self with a nearby object.  
**Doton: ganchuusou** - (unknown rank) Earth style: rock pillar spear - creates a rock spear rising form the ground.  
**Doton: iwate** - (B-rank) Earth style: stone hands - ninjutsu I created. After performing needed handseals user will place his hands on the ground or concrete and it will form hard-to-destroy gauntlets around user's hands. Unfortunately, this jutsu constanty drains user's chakra, while it is active.**  
****Ookuya **- (D-rank) Multiple arrows - one more jutsu I created. Shoots several spears from the gauntlet, formed by **Doton: iwate** jutsu.  
**Doton: keisei** - (B-rank) Earth style: formation - jutsu of my own creation. Allows user to modify earth in a small area at his will. User need to stand on the ground to do this jutsu.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** still don't own 'Naruto' or any of it's characters...

"speaking"  
_'thinking'  
_**"speaking of higher beings / Naruto while using Kyuubi's power or Gaara while using Shukaku's / jutsus / Cursed seal second level users"  
_'thinking of higher beings / Kyuubi talking to Naruto through mental link / mentally activated jutsus'_**

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**chapter 25: The great fights**

While Deidara didn't know about Naruto's sage mode, common sense dictated that your opponent concentrating on something during the fight usually mean some really powerful attack coming. So, the 'mad bomber' from the Hidden Stone found himself in need of stopping the Kyuubi jinchuuriki from completing his technique, which meant that a second later several clay birds were speeding towards the demon container.

"**Onipou: katon: akai jin!**" Seeing the incoming attack, the demoness raised a fiery shield to protect her container: she knew that he couldn't move at all while gathering natural energy for the sage mode of his. Thankfully, the bombs that Deidara used weren't anything really powerful, nor did they come from multiple angles, so her shield did what she needed from it perfectly... Meanwhile, the Iwa missing-nin was already sending the next barrage of flying bombs towards them. And this time, he was a bit more creative about their trajectories. Still, Kurama smirked to herself, it was nothing that her mighty self couldn't handle...

And by the time the third flock of clay birds started homing onto Naruto, the said blond was already opening his eyes, golden-yellow with horizontal pupils, signifying that he had successfully entered his sage mode. And, seeing this, the demoness canceled her shield to allow her partner to counterattack... Quickly drawing his kunai from the holster on his leg, the blond demon container made a slashing movement towards Deidara.

"**Fuuton: kaze no yaiba!**" Too bad, the Iwa missing-nin managed to maneuver his bird out of the wind sword's way. Naruto, though, didn't seem to be too disappointed by this – it was kind of expected: his opponent was an S-rank ninja after all... Flashing through another set of handseals, the young sage unleashed his next attack: "**Fuuton: daitoppa!**"

"**Onipou: katon: atsui kanazuchi!**" The nine-tailed demoness fired her own attack a moment later. Her beam of orange fire connected with Naruto's wind technique and, drawing power from it, became a raging torrent of flames so great that Deidara had no choice but to abandon the bird he was riding to escape with his life. Thankfully, he didn't put any explosive chakra into it... Still in midair, the 'mad bomber' finished creating his next piece of art.

"**Kibaku nendo: C2: doragon!**" A small clay figurine expanded into a fifty meters long dragon with a long tail formed by multitude of spheres. And now knowing how dangerous his opponents' jutsu can be to his art, the Iwa missing-nin had the dragon gain some altitude.

Now that he was sure that his rather slow and bulky clay beast was relatively safe from the attacks the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and his summon could unleash, Deidara thought about what to do next. He needed to keep these two away from his partner's fight with the Nibi jinchuuriki, but now it was also shown to him that he needed to be very careful in dealing with the Kyuubi container: Zetsu might be a great spy, but the plant-like man could not be everywhere at once, and so it looked like he hadn't seen the entire set of nine-tails' container's abilities. Oh well, even it was like this, Deidara mused, his art still was superior. And so now it was time for some mines...

"Something is coming." Naruto said aloud as he saw a ball from the dragon's tail disappear. And when the clay beast looked like it was about to eruct something, he quickly did the handseals for one of the most powerful earth element shields he knew. But when instead of homing flying bombs, a myriad of volleyball-sized bedbugs appeared out of the dragon's mouth, the young sage let the chakra for his earth technique dissipate: there were better ways to deal with these, it seemed. "**Fuuton: renkuudan!**" Naruto breathed out a large ball of compressed air, which then exploded some thirty meters off the ground, sending Deidara's bombs flying away from his position in all directions. The Iwa missing-nin didn't seem to be too disappointed by this, and a second later the Kyuubi jinchuuriki understood why: the bedbug bombs just burrowed into the ground where they landed, effectively creating a mine field. But that was not all: with the sensor abilities of his sage mode, Naruto could feel that these bombs were also moving under the ground towards his position... Apparently, Kurama could sense that too as his single nod to her was enough to let her know what he wanted her to do. The redhead knelt, pressing her both palms to the ground.

"**Onipou: youton: entsuchi!**" A second later she and her container were standing on a circular 'island' of about fifteen meters in diameter that swam in a small lava lake. And explosions coming from all sides were a clear indication that the clay bombs couldn't bypass this fiery barrier... Unfortunately for the duo, though, Deidara didn't wait for all of his bedbug bombs to explode before he initiated his next attack – a group of very fast bird bombs.

"**Doton: keisei!**" Naruto manipulated the earth around him and his demoness into a protective cocoon, which kept them safe from the birds' explosions. Also, this cocoon provided the blond sage with a cover he needed to prepare for his next attack: summoning a single shadow clone, he gave it the repaired and improved puppet-shuriken. Then the clone shunshin'ed away into the forest: it will be attacking Deidara from a covered position...

It was a little more than a second since the clone left, when a powerful explosion from the outside destroyed the cocoon. Looking up at his opponent, Naruto could see that the clay dragon's tail was another ball shorted. Apparently, this beast could make only so many attacks, before it became nothing more that a big and slow transport for the Iwa missing-nin...

Seeing that Deidara was preparing some attack, as was his dragon, the young jinchuuriki decided that it was the high time for him to counterattack. And the Kyuubi, who didn't need to keep the lava lake active at the moment, was going to help him there.

"**Onipou: katon: ranendan!**" A ring of fire surrounded the red-haired demoness and a moment later it started shooting balls of fire in such a way that dodging those was pretty much impossible for something as slow as Deidara's dragon.

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!**" Naruto breathed out a gust of wind that further increased the power of his demoness' fireballs. The 'mad bomber' from the Hidden Stone didn't expect an attack with such a wide area of effect, and so he was forced to abandon the dragon in order to escape with the minimal damage to himself. And quickly changing the bomb he was preparing into a bird to carry him, he didn't even had to spend any time in the free fall. Plus, the smoke form the dragon's explosion that covered a significant part of the sky also provided him with enough cover to create several clay clones with their own birds...

Understandably, Naruto was quite frustrated when his and Kurama's combined attack not only didn't hurt Deidara, but also allowed the Akatsuki member to multiply himself with clones. And even worse, because of how high those were in the air, even with his sage mode it was really hard to read chakra levels in hopes of determining which was the real one.

Thankfully, it was when the puppet-shuriken controlled by the blond sage's hidden clone entered the stage. And since there was a liberal amounts of wind chakra extending the weapon's blades as well as amplifying its speed and maneuverability, the bombers in the air all had to be quite careful if they didn't want their existence ended, which meant that they couldn't just carpet bomb their target to end this fight quickly...

"**Onipou: katon: ranenkiri!**" The dissipating ring of fire that was surrounding the Kyuubi was back to its full power and was now spitting out curved blades made entirely out of flames into the skies. Naruto didn't even feel the need to amplify those with his wind techniques as he didn't want to spoil his demoness' fun: she sure seemed to enjoy this little 'game'.

Deidara, on the other hand, didn't like the predicament he found himself in. Not at all. And if the flying buzz saw was not enough, the techniques that the Kyuubi's container's summoned ally was using were not something that the 'mad bomber' associated with human. And not just because of their names. Still, it looked like that energy construct was actually the nine-tailed demon in its human form. The Iwa missing-nin, despite being quite familiar with the jinchuuriki – after all, the Hidden Stone village had two – he had never heard about a demon container having an ability to create an independently acting avatar of the beast. This was not in Zetsu's report on the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, and Deidara intended to fix that defect as soon as he and Sasori were back to the safe headquarters of the Akatsuki organization. Preferably both alive and with the Nibi jinchuuriki captured. Right now, though, he had other things to worry about...

To his right, one of hit clones got hit by the puppet-shuriken and ended up being cut into two at its waist. Still, as the damage was not enough to destroy the clay clone – it was just a cut, plain and simple, even if wind chakra was involved – so it reformed alright. But unlike his clones, Deidara himself was not made from clay, and so being cut into two would be rather fatal to him. So, he needed to do his best to avoid this troublesome remotely-controlled shuriken. As well as those demonic techniques the Kyuubi's avatar was throwing around: those were fatal even for his clones as fire made them detonate.

Oh well, this fight was most definitely not going the way the Akatsuki duo had planned, and for all his supposed S-rank, Deidara was forced on the defensive as the team of a jinchuuriki and his bijuu was doing their best to blast him off the sky. And considering that out of the four clones only one was still alive, their best was quite damn good... Thankfully, he didn't need to win against these two: just keep them occupied for long enough for Sasori to deal with the jinchuuriki of the two-tails, but that was a weak consolation...

His thinking about how things in this fight went wrong and about his inability to do much to change that – he couldn't even use C3 or C4 as Leader-sama would have his head if he accidentally killed the Kyuubi jinchuuriki – was interrupted by that damned puppet-shuriken flying towards him. He himself, of course, managed to dodge the blades, but, unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about his bird, which now was missing its right wing. Plus, he wasn't high enough to be able to create a new one from the clay in his pouches before he would reach the ground...

'_Note to self: always carry several spare carrier-birds on my person._' Deidara thought, as he skillfully used tree branches to slow down his fall. Of course, he could just disappear now, but then his opponents would rejoin the Nibi jinchuuriki, and the Iwa missing-nin was quite sure that Sasori won't survive the three on one fight then... He could also try to get back into the air, but it was already proven to him that he wasn't as untouchable there as he thought he was. Finally, he could try to continue attacking the Kyuubi jinchuuriki while remaining on the ground and hope that the forest will provide him with enough cover: of course, he wasn't too weak in close-ranged combat, but he was sure that he wasn't strong enough to take on a jinchuuriki of the nine-tails _and_ his damn bijuu like that.

Deidara once again had this musing interrupted when he sensed a great build-up of demonic energy coming roughly from the same place where he saw the avatar of the Kyuubi last. And considering that he wasn't a sensor, this meant that nothing good was about to happen. Really, there was only one attack that he knew of that could require so much power; he had never seen **Imari** before and he really hoped to avoid seeing it now, but... He needed to run and fast as Zetsu had reported that Naruto Uzumaki was a sensor, and so, likely, could help the Kyuubi with its aim.

The idea to run was proved to be a life-saving one as not three seconds later a good portion of a forest he was hiding in just now was turned into ashes by the fiery blast. And before he could even recover from being almost vaporized, the flying buzz saw of a puppet-shuriken made its return. Damn, today was most definitely not his day, the 'mad bomber' of the Akatsuki organization thought...

**~/ *** \~**

While his partner was busy with keeping the Kyuubi jinchuuriki occupied, Sasori had his own fight with the container of the two-tails. Not exactly a perfect opponent for him as his puppets had a glaring weakness against fire, but the Suna missing-nin was positive that he could overcome the Kumo kunoichi without losing anything valuable from his puppet collection.

He had opened their fight with his almost standard move of launching a hailstorm of poisoned senbon needles at the container of the Nibi no Nekomata. Not entirely unexpectedly, the blond kunoichi evaded the attack by jumping over the mass of the projectiles... And while she was still in the mid-air, the puppet-master tried to hit her with several kunai – those too were poisoned – but those only hit a log that Yugito had substituted herself with...

As soon as she regained her balance, the Nibi jinchuuriki threw several kunai with explosive tags attached, but Sasori deflected those with his mechanical tail, and the explosions did nothing more that trifle his Akatsuki cloak. Of course, the Kumo kunoichi wasn't standing still during this, and she was preparing her next attack.

"**Katon: goukakyuu no jutsu!**" She breathed out of big fireball about the same time the tags on kunai she threw exploded. The puppeteer just jumped out of the way, though with his 'body' it wasn't as easy to do as he would have liked: Hiruko, while a good protection, was slow and hulking... Seeing that her opponent wasn't counterattacking just yet, Yugito pressed her advantage and unleashed her next attack: "**Katon: housenka no jutsu!**" This time Sasori had to dodge a multitude of small fireballs, and he did that with a quick **kawarimi**, disappearing into the woods. For several seconds the Nibi jinchuuriki was looking around, trying to locate the puppet master, but even with her heightened senses she couldn't detect him.

Suddenly, the man revealed himself by sending another hailstorm of senbon at her, but this had Yugito too busy with dodging to answer him with a technique of her own. Plus, for all she knew, he could have changed his position already... Another second later that assumption was proven correct as a second barrage of poisoned needles came from a different direction. And this time, one of the needles actually scratched her shoulder. The amount of poison that got into her blood, though, wasn't fatal. It wouldn't even knock her unconscious, but Yugito was no fool and she knew that she had all but lost her fight now: the poison will undoubtedly slow her down, and Sasori will have no problems with capturing her. And where the hell was Fuu?

A moment later, though, the Nibi jinchuuriki was fully concentrating on her opponent again as he emerged from the trees with a pretty basic puppet flying on each side. The strange thing was that the chakra-threads used to control the puppets were coming nor from Sasori's hands, but somewhere from his chest, but at the moment Yugito paid little attention to that as she was watching the puppets and their master for their next attack, which she absolutely needed to dodge.

"**Doton: ganchuusou!**" Before the Suna missing-nin could react, a stone spear rose from the ground, tearing the puppet on his left into the useless splinters. A moment later Fuu jumped out of the trees with rock gauntlets surrounding her hands, and attempted to punch the puppeteer. Of course, being an S-rank ninja, Sasori dodged this attack, but it still almost got him, leaving a sizable crater where he stood moments ago. The teal-haired kunoichi didn't stop there and once again used rock spears to try and screw the Akatsuki agent, but she was quite unsuccessful with this. It didn't stop the girl, though, and she continued attacking: "**Ookuya!**" Fuu said, pointing her hands at the puppeteer, who now found himself under the barrage of heavy rock darts. Still, those were nothing that his mechanical tail couldn't deflect...

Overcoming his shock at seeing another demon container here, and his anger at Zetsu and his own spies for not informing him about this extra threat, Sasori went on offensive again, using his remaining summoned puppet and Hiruko's left hand to launch a mass of poisoned senbon at the two kunoichi in front of him... Fuu responded by raising a stone wall that blocked all of the projectiles with ease. And using the time she won by this to her advantage, the teal-haired kunoichi swiftly moved to her fellow demon container and, placed her hand over the Yugito's wound.

"This should help you." She said as a pale-green glow surrounded her hand. A moment later the Kumo kunoichi felt the effects of the poisoning slowly disappearing.

"You can do this?" The Nibi jinchuuriki asked: she never expected Fuu – or any other demon container for that matter – to be able to use medical ninjutsu.

"While my bijuu is almost completely an Earth elemental, Choumei also has some poison-related abilities, which is why I can isolate poison in your body and remove it from your system." The container of the seven-tails explained. Yugito nodded.

"Thank you." She said, before adding after a short pause: "Now, let's deal with the Akatsuki." Not two seconds after she said that, the stone wall erected by Fuu was destroyed by a group of puppets that held humongous bladed weapons in their hands. While the blond kunoichi was still thinking about the way to deal with these, the other girl already had a possible solution in her mind.

"**Doton: keisei!**" Stone spikes rose from the ground, forming huge cages around the puppets. Sure, Sasori managed to get four of his creations away, but the other two still got trapped. For a few seconds, as there was no doubt that their blades could cut through this rock just as well as they did through the stone wall earlier... Understanding her partner's plan, Yugito wasted no time and flashed through some handseals:

"**Katon: housenka no jutsu!**" Being trapped in the stone cages, even if those were quite huge, the puppets had no real way to dodge this shower of fireballs, and soon both were burning brightly as the oils their creator used were more than quite inflammable... While the Nibi jinchuuriki was playing with fire, Fuu found herself under the assault of the other three puppets that had weapons in their hands. But she defended herself well against those with her gauntlets, and she even managed to damage of the puppets rather badly with a well-placed punch to its 'chest'. "Fuu!" Seeing her partner and fellow jinchuuriki preparing an attack, the teal-haired kunoichi jumped aside. And a moment later a stream of fire ignited the puppets she had been fighting moments ago.

"Watch out!" The container of the seven-tail shouted as she saw Sasori's last puppet ready to fire something at Yugito. But it looked like the Kumo kunoichi didn't need this warning as she dodged the stream of needles with cat-like grace, while continuing to breathe out more flames to turn those three armed puppets into nothing more than ashes...

"Thanks." The Nibi jinchuuriki said as she finally stopped powering her fire technique. Looking to the right, she saw Sasori himself preparing some really powerful attack. Fuu could see that two, so the two girls just exchanged nods, before the Taki kunoichi raised a stone wall. Just in time to block all seven packs of senbon needles and another pack of kunai that the Akatsuki puppeteer fired at them. A moment later, though, the wall got blown into pieces as, apparently, the blades had explosive tags attached to them. And tags with some obscure poisons too as the smoke from the explosion was of an unnatural purplish color. Not wanting to test what the Suna missing-nin had put in this poison, both girls quickly got as far away from the dangerous cloud as they could. And Fuu also used the cover it provided to summon a group of shadow clones: it was time to counterattack the puppet master for real!

Sasori was a bit surprised, when a group of clones broke through the poisonous cloud, but he was back to his full-alert long before they were ready rain their attacks on him or the puppet he still had by his side. And when the clones were close enough, he had the puppet start spinning around like a little bladed tornado, ripping the clones into the wisps of white smoke... For a moment, the Akatsuki puppeteer was wondering what was the purpose of this attack as sending shadow clones against something with blades usually was just a waste of chakra.

Then he got his answer, when the ground under his feet exploded, turning into a forest of thick and sharp rock spikes... His lightning-fast reflexes allowed Sasori himself to escape at the very last moment, but, unfortunately, Hiruko got destroyed. Same with the heavily modified standard puppet he had by his side at that moment, but it was nothing special, so he wasn't going to cry (even if he was able to) over its loss.

"Interesting... You used shadow clones to get my position without having to see me yourself, and you confused me into believing that the clones were the real attack with their number." The puppeteer said as he took one of the scrolls from his cloak and opened it. A moment later a large and imposing human puppet was floating in front of him. And had the girls been better versed in Suna history, they'd recognize this puppet to be made from Sandaime Kazekage himself. "But you broke my Hiruko, so, I'm afraid, I'll have to break you in turn." The Akatsuki agent said as he made his puppet fire several poison bombs to where he thought his targets were hiding.

His aim proved to be quite right as both kunoichi jumped out of the new poisonous cloud moment later. Judging by the effects he could see, neither jinchuuriki got as much of his poison as he hoped, but no matter... That was just a preparatory attack after all. Now, a hundred or so of iron sand balls hovering in front of his puppet were the real attack...

But before he could unleash it, Sasori froze. Actually, he wasn't the only one: both his opponents too seemed to be frozen where they stood. And a moment later all three of them understood what caused this when, following a release of a huge build-up of energy, a wave of reddish smoke rose above the trees: Naruto – or the Kyuubi – had just used **Imari**. Neither of the three thought that it was possible to use that without entering full-bijuu state, and they all were quite sure that they would have seen the nine-tails, had Naruto transformed into it.

Sasori was the first one to get out of this sudden stupor, and he didn't waste a single moment before sending the shrapnel of iron sand balls at the two kunoichi. Fuu was the first one to react as she both hardened her skin with **doton: domu** technique and raised a stone wall to protect both herself and Yugito... Unfortunately, the wall proved to be of little use there, as the metallic projectiles broke through it without any great troubles. Still, the wall slowed those iron sand balls down enough for Fuu's stone skin to protect the girl completely. The Nibi jinchuuriki wasn't as lucky...

Without any personal protection active, the shrapnel left several deep wounds on her stomach and upper legs, and even if it wasn't poisoned – and knowing Sasori it was – this fight for Yugito was over: one just couldn't fight well with such wounds...

It took Fuu a second or so to recover from the puppet master's attack: even if it didn't hurt her much it still knocked her on her ass. And once the teal-haired kunoichi was back to her feet and ready to continue fighting, she summoned a single shadow clone to take care of her comrade. She might not be any good at healing, but extracting poisons from Yugito's wounds and getting her the hell outta the battlefield was well within Fuu's abilities. And, of course, now she also had to beat the Akatsuki agent on her own...

Of course, Sasori wasn't about to let his primary target slip away from him just that easily, so he had the puppet of the Sandaime Kazekage send a huge block of iron sand at the Nibi jinchuuriki and the clone that was carrying her away. But the real teal-haired kunoichi was prepared for this, and redirected this attack away from them with several thick stone walls... And before the block finally stopped moving, she already was attacking Sasori, closing in in hopes that the puppet was not as strong in close combat as it was in ranged.

She was swiftly proven wrong in that assumption as a good hundred of puppet arms slammed her into the ground as soon as she got into the trap's range. Damn, now she will be all sore and blue tomorrow because of this. At least her stone skin had protected her from the worst... Drawing some of her bijuu's powers, Fuu pushed herself off the ground and using her now more than just superhuman strength, broke all those hundred arms that had her pinned down previously as she rolled to the side. Just in time to avoid losing her right arm to an oversized guillotine knife...

Quickly getting back on her feet, the Taki kunoichi resumed her attack, using a multitude of stone spikes to make Sasori start dodging. She actually managed to harm his puppet with this attack as well, but, unfortunately, it was nothing to make it less useful to the Suna missing-nin... Continuing to press her momentary advantage, the teal-haired girl once again aimed her gauntlets at her opponent.

"**Ookuya!**" Because there was little space between them, Sasori had no time to dodge, and several stone bolts were now sticking both through his puppet of the Sandaime Kazekage and his own head. Good thing that his body was just another puppet, or such a wound most definitely would have been fatal... That, and it was quite amusing to see the faces when he pulled his head off his shoulders and removed the offending pieces of rock from it. "Hey! You're a puppet!" Fuu pointed out the obvious. Sasori didn't reply and, instead, un-summoned the puppet of the Sandaime Kazekage: it was getting quite too risky to continue using it if he didn't want to completely sacrifice it, and it already required some long and expensive repairs...

Right now, he was going to bring the damned jinchuuriki of seven-tails down with his best puppet: his own body. So, he removed his Akatsuki cloak, revealing his artificial body to still shocked Fuu. The girl barely had any time to react when he raised his arms at her and started firing jets of white-hot flames. Still, with the powers of her bijuu circulating through her body and now forming a single-tailed cloak of yoki around her being, the teal-haired kunoichi was able to escape the scorching flames, even if barely...

As she continued running in circle around the red-haired puppet master, she tried to close in and hit him from behind, but as she quickly learned, the blades on Sasori's back were quite functional and almost took her hand off when she made a mistake of getting too close to him.

Still, the fire the Akatsuki agent was using was not something of his own creation and, instead, came from one of the many scrolls was carrying on his person. So, sooner or later it would be all used up. And that was exactly what Fuu was waiting for: once the flames stopped coming from Sasori's hands, she charged at him, ready to destroy his artificial body with one mighty punch... Too bad, she didn't really think about the hose that resided in puppet master's gut. Thus, she was quite surprised when she found herself tightly bound by the said hose, stopped dead in her track when her fist was just several inches away from her opponent's chest.

Raising the teal-haired annoyance on the hose, the Suna missing-nin though about what he should do with her. Killing her was out of question as then Leader-sama would be quite angry. And having Leader-sama angry at you was never a good thing: the man was so powerful that he likely could take the rest of Akatsuki on by himself and be the only one to walk away alive. Capturing this jinchuuriki now too wasn't a great idea as it was far too early for the sealing of seven-tails, that and Sasori had no desire to listed to Kakuzu's complains about his precious money being wasted on feeding a prisoner. Maybe he should take a page from Kisame's book and cut the girl's legs, the redhead thought. This will definitely make her so much easier to capture later on...

The puppet master's musings were cut short, though, when he felt Fuu drawing more of her bijuu's powers. And before he could throw her away or something, the Taki kunoichi shifted into a three-tailed version of her demonic cloak, which also created a shock wave so powerful that ripped the hose into pieces and threw Sasori across the clearing and into a large tree, where his puppet body fell apart from the force of the hit. Still, at the very last moment he managed to make a deep cut on the left side of her stomach with one of his blades.

Quickly reverting back to a single-tail mode – she still had great troubles controlling herself when she was using more – Fuu as quickly as her wound allowed her approached the downed missing-nin, who was trying to reassemble his puppet body. Making a educated guess that since the chakra threads were coming from 'man's' midsection, it was also where mind and the source of chakra were, the jinchuuriki of seven-tails raised two slabs of rock and squashed that part of the puppet. Well, almost, as a single cylinder that clearly contained some biological materials 'jumped' out of the body just before it was crashed. But before this cylinder could do anything, the teal-haired girl caught it with her rock gauntlet.

"So, this is what real Sasori is, huh?" She asked no one in particular, while the cylinder was trying to escape from her grip in vain. Then she crashed it too, thus killing the once greatest puppeteer of the Hidden Sand... Taking a deep breath, Fuu dispelled the demonic cloak around herself and headed to where her clone – it got canceled when she entered three-tailed mode – left Yugito...

* * *

"You killed him?" Yugito, who was lying in a comfortable gap between tree roots, whispered in an almost disbelieving tone when a beaten up Fuu limped into her field of view. The teal-haired girl just nodded tiredly, before almost dropping onto the soft moss next to her fellow jinchuuriki. Forcing herself to keep going, Fuu did a scan on the blonde next to her, and was quite happy to find out that her clone managed to get most of the poison out of Yugito's bloodstream before it got dispelled. Still, it'd be better if she finishes the job...

Half an hour later, after the both girls had patched themselves to the best of their abilities – mostly this meant that the poisons were removed from their bodies, and that their wounds were properly bandaged now – they decided that it was about time they rejoined the final member of their little group. They knew that Naruto too had won his fight, even if they weren't there to see that themselves. But what other outcome could have been there if there was no mad bombers trying to blow them up? That and they still could feel the powerful presence of the Kyuubi nearby...  
So, using each other for support, the two kunoichi started walking towards their group's third member's location. It wasn't actually that far from where they were, but with with their wounds, it still took them at least ten minutes to get there.

The two female jinchuuriki were already entering the clearing where their Naruto was, when they sensed – and actually saw, even if they didn't caught its original form – the Kyuubi disappearing in the red mist of yoki... For some reason, to the girls it looked like the supposedly fearsome nine-tailed demon had been in a human-like form and had been putty sitting between blond sage's legs... Shaking their heads to clear the unwanted and unneeded images from them, the girls surveyed the clearing.

Naruto was sitting against a fallen and mostly destroyed tree, looking quite better than his fellow two jinchuuriki. Sure, his clothes too were damaged and he himself was covered with bruises and small cuts, but at least he had no serious wounds. What was more important, though, was an unconscious captured missing-nin that was laid against the same fallen tree, bound with ropes and with his chakra sealed away. The said missing-nin, of course, was no one other than Deidara...

"You... You captured him, Naruto-kun?" Fuu asked in surprise. The young sage nodded in response.

"Well..." He began.

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**Lemon warning. If you do not wish to read it, skip to the next paragraph, you won't lose anything plot-wise  
**

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Naruto was not at all surprised to find himself in the tropical forest that was the representation of his subconscious as soon as he fell asleep in the real world. The Kyuubi had helped him greatly in his fight today, and now she wanted her reward. Not that he will ever mind 'paying' the passionate redhead for her services... Shaking his head, the blond sage started walking through the tropical forest, much like the one at the Mt. Myoboku, that represented his mind. Passing through the blue-ish semi-transparent barrier that existed between two warrior toad statues and showed where the 'seal' began without any hesitations, he headed deeper into the 'forest' to where he knew the vixen's most favorite spot was.

And indeed the said red-haired seductress was there, lying on a huge leaf of some tropical plant completely naked, with her left hand playing with her delicious breasts while her right one was quite busy between the her legs making her moan softly in pleasure... Sensing her lover's approach, the demoness stopped playing with herself. Opening her blood-red and slitted eyes, she smiled seductively at him, before bringing her right hand to her mouth and sucking her fingers clean from her juices one by one in the most erotic and arousing fashion possible. Then she smiled at him again, beckoning him to join her on the leaf.

Naruto just nodded and a moment later, having wished his clothes to disappear, was as naked as the lovely vixen in front of him was. Not wanting to keep his lover waiting any longer, he moved into standing on all fours on top of her, and the Kyuubi wrapped her hands around his shoulders and raised her head to claim his lips for a long and heated kiss, while also not-so-secretly enjoying his rock-hard erection against her lower stomach.

"And now, fuck me good with that fat cock of yours." The demoness told him once they broke their kiss. Her container kept looking into her eyes for several long moments, but seeing that this was indeed what she wanted nodded. Giving him a reassuring smile the red-haired vixen spread her legs wider and, unwrapping her hand from around his neck, she snaked it down there to guide his fully-erect member into her wet and wanting pussy.

"Mm-a-ah!" The Kyuubi moaned from the great feeling of being complemented by her lover so very nicely. It was the feeling she could never get tired from. Naruto was in full agreement with her, though he wasn't as vocal about that.

After several seconds of being still, the young sage started moving, slowly thrusting in and out of his red-haired lover's tight snatch, earning himself more moans full of pleasure from the vixen, who now had her long and shapely legs wrapped tightly around his waist... For a couple of minutes the two were quite content with their rather slow love-making, but then the Kyuubi started thrusting her hips back, reminding Naruto that she wanted nothing less than good thorough fuck from him. Smirking, he claimed her lips for another steaming-hot kiss, while increasing the speed and depth of his thrusts and adding more power to them, something that the redhead wholeheartedly approved. ...Breaking the kiss, the demoness raised her head to her lover's ear and whispered hotly:

"You can play with my ass too, you know." This was followed by her moan of pleasure as Naruto made an especially deep and powerful thrust into her delicious pussy.

"As my crimson princess wants." The blonde replied as he moved his hand south to where the action was going on and, covering his fingers with the juices that had escaped from his lover's incredible pussy, rubbed them against her pretty rosebud, getting a moan of approval form her. Deciding that his demoness knew what she wanted, he pushed his middle finger past her ring and found it surrounded by her hot, soft and really tight dark tunnel; and after a couple of seconds later he started fingering his lover's asshole in the rhythm with his trusts into her pussy. A loud moan of pleasure from the Kyuubi told him that she loved what he was doing...

With so much stimulation, it didn't take the red-haired demoness too much time to reach her orgasm, and she came with a silent cry of ecstasy, her pussy tightening around Naruto's cock, trying to milk his seed from it, while her ass seemingly was trying to do the same with his finger... And this new-found tightness of her snatch brought the young sage close to his own orgasm.

"I'm gonna... A-ah... cum, Kyuu-chan!" He moaned out as he kept thrusting into her pussy. The response he got was a full of passion kiss from the demoness as her legs brought him as deep into her as possible.

"Then cum!" The red-haired vixen told him once their lips parted. "Fill me with your cream, I want it all inside!" These words were enough to send Naruto over the edge and he exploded into his lover's delightful pussy with his huge load of hot thick cum, earning a content moan from her. Rolling them over and finally pulling his finger out of the her pretty butt, he wrapped his arms around his lovely demoness' waist pulling her in a tight embrace...

Several minutes later the young sage felt his vixen move and, opening his eyes, saw that now she was sitting on top of him with her hands planted firmly against his chest, as she worked her inner muscles to bring his cock back to its full mast. Something that wasn't hard at all for the red-haired hottie.

"Did you really think that one time would be enough to satisfy me? Oh no, Naruto-koi, our night ins't over yet." The Kyuubi said with a playful smirk as she raised herself on his dick, before fully impaling herself on it again, making them both let out a moan of pleasure.

"Then why don't I give you a ride to the cloud nine?" The blond sage asked with a smirk of his own. The nine-tailed vixen seemed to love this idea and so she began bouncing on his cock, her beautiful breast jiggling most erotically with her every movement... Naruto wasn't about to lay still while his lover rode him, so he began meeting her every descent with an upwards thrust of his own, giving them both even more pleasure and making the redhead atop of him moan louder. The blond shinobi then moved his hands on his demoness' hips, helping her keep the rhythm she wanted and allowing her to 'sit' up straight as she continued bouncing on his cock. In turn, the Kyuubi began playing with her breasts with his hands, giving him one hell of a show that made him fuck her even harder...

This time, Naruto was the first one to reach his orgasm and with a howl-like cry of pleasure he shot his second load right into his red-haired lover's willing pussy. And the feeling of his hot cum filling her womb sent the sexy vixen over the edge as well. Falling on top of her container, the Kyuubi captured his lips for a hot and passionate kiss as they both rode the waves of their pleasure...

"That was... a-ah... fantastic." The young sage said breathlessly as their lips parted. His beloved demoness just smiled back at him mirthfully and laid her head on his chest while her arms snaked around his shoulders. Sure, she would love to have another round of a passionate love-making with him, but she knew that he needed rest, so she decided that they had had enough fun for tonight. They could always continue tomorrow in the morning, after all. With this pleasant thought, the red-haired beauty allowed herself to follow her container into the land of dreams...

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**Lemon end**

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Deidara slowly regained his conscious, and the first thing he noticed was the fact that he had been beaten up quite badly in his last fight. And, apparently, his puppet-loving partner was as well, as otherwise he wouldn't be all tied up and his chakra wouldn't be sealed away. Opening his eyes, he saw it was morning already, meaning that he was unconscious for quite a while. Though, that at the moment wasn't as important as the three of his captors standing in front of him. And it didn't take him more than a moment to recognize the trio as the demon containers. Damn, this wasn't good, not at all.

"Welcome back to the world of living." The Kyuubi jinchuuriki said in a fake-cheerful tone. "Now, we have some questions that you better answer." Considering that there was nothing that he could do escape – hell, he couldn't even blow himself up – Deidara had but one option here.

"Why Akatsuki are collecting bijuu?" The Kumo kunoichi asked as she made a step closer to the captured missing-nin, making him realize that not only she had a kunai in her hand, but that the said blade was now right above his knee. Should she ...accidentally... release it from her grip, the 'mad bomber' of the Hidden Stone had no doubts that he'd be in a world of pain. Well, not really, as he lived through worse, but he still didn't fancy any damage to his knee-caps. Maybe he should answer this one truthfully? Not like this answer is going to help the demon containers...

"Leader-sama wants to create some ultimate jutsu of destruction using them. Um." Deidara said after what felt like ages of silence. And now there was another, though much shorter, silence as three jinchuuriki were processing what they had just heard: this wasn't exactly what they thought Akatsuki's goal was.

"Alright, next question." Naruto said. There was one thing he really wanted to ask the man. "Since one of my... associates is quite... well informed about what is going on in the Elemental Nations..." What a nice way to say that your godfather is a spy master. "I've heard about your fight with Tsuchikage that resulted in you becoming a missing-nin. And I've also heard about you working on your own for some time following that event. Than you suddenly drop from the face of the Earth for several month and when you reappear, you're a part of the Akatsuki. Care to explain, how you became one of them?" This was definitely the question Deidara wasn't expecting. And having three jinchuuriki glaring at him, there was little he could do to escape answering it. Of course, he could try deceive them, but with one of them knowing some spy master, the chances were, they'd know if he lied. Should he tell them the truth? Did he even have an option of withholding information from them? Likely, not.

"Um..." The Iwa missing-nin began his tale. "As you know, after it blew up between me and the old bastard, I kept working on my own for some time. Um... But then that red-eyed man, Itachi, came with a proposition from Akatsuki. I, of course, declined as it would limit my abilities to show the world what the true art is, but, um... he then made a bet: if he can win in a fight, I'll have to join the organization..."

"And you lost." Fuu said, interrupting the man. He glared at the teal-haired girl for several long seconds before Naruto decided to intervene:

"I see... But couldn't you, you know, run away or something?" He asked. Deidara's face changed.

"You don't understand." He said absolutely seriously. "You can't just escape from the Akatsuki. Leader-sama would not allow that." This didn't sound as convincing to the Kyuubi jinchuuriki as the Iwa missing-nin wanted.

"But Orochimaru had left the organization quite alright, hadn't he?" The young sage asked.

"Um... When that happened, the snake had his own village. Leader-sama just doesn't want to spread the members of the organization too thin. Once all of the bijuu are sealed, though, the traitor will be the first one to fall, that much Leader-sama said himself. Um." This was when Yugito spoke again:

"So, he is safe for now because going after him requires too much resources from the organization. You know, if you really wanted to escape, you could have done the same." The Kumo kunoichi said, looking pointedly at he captured missing-nin. The said missing-nin was glaring back, though, considering the state he was in, it wasn't as intimidating.

"And where do you expect me to find enough shinobi to be around me to deter Leader-sama from hunting me down?" He asked, actually sounding a bit amused. The three jinchuuriki looked at each other, before Yugito exploded:

"Naruto!" She hissed. "Don't tell me you think it will be a good idea to have him join our little group!"

"OK, I won't tell you." The young sage replied with a chuckle, the blonde girl to growl angrily at him. "Don't worry, I'm not stupid." He tried reassuring her. "I'm a seal master. If he tries anything against us, he'll become a piece of his art." Deidara redirected his glare at him: chakra-suppression was understandable, given that he was their prison, but to also add a bomb on him? This went a little too far in his opinion. Naruto, though, paid this no mind. "And I don't really insist on him joining us, though having an S-ranked ninja on our side won't be bad, I think." Yugito sighed, before turning to Fuu, who was being quiet for some time now, in hopes of getting some support from her. Unfortunately for her, the teal-haired kunoichi was of the mind that, indeed, Deidara might be not a bad addition to their little group, even if it meant that from now on they would have to be far more discrete when they wanted some of their naughty fun...

"So, um..." The Iwa missing-nin said slowly. "You want me to switch my allegiance from one group I had been forced into to another I'm being forced into?" There was a pause, before the man added: "Do I get to show the world the true might of my at, um?" Three jinchuuriki just stared at him.

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That's all folks!  
Leave me a **Review**!


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